164 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



rapid wing beats, although strong enough to carry the great body 

 of their owner hundreds of miles to the south and back again to 

 the north every year. It has been estimated that with a slight 

 W'ind in their favor a flock of swans can travel over loo miles an 

 hour. 



The scalation of the leg and foot is reticulate, that is, in the 

 form of very small scales rather than large, overlapping scutes. 

 The three anterior toes are fully webbed, but the hind toe has only 

 the faintest trace of a lobe. Its weak character and elevated 

 position show that the swans must early have acquired their nata- 

 tory and terrestrial habits, having long since lost all need for 

 grasping a perch. 



The chief defence of the swan lies in its wings, although it can 

 pinch severely with the horny tip of the beak. But it can knock a 

 dog senseless, and fell a man to the earth with one or two strokes 

 of the hard wrist portion of its pinions. 



In their relation to mankind the aesthetic has always predomi- 

 nated over the economical, although the flesh of the younger 

 swans is very delicate, and swan's down is a valuable product of 

 the plumage of these birds. Swans seem never to become wholly 

 domesticated, like the pigeon, fowl, and duck, and unless their 

 wings are clipped or pinioned are ever ready to be lured away 

 by the clanging chorus of their wild kindred flying past over- 

 head. 



The care of swans in captivity is a very simple matter, the best 

 regular food being a mixture of grains, such as whole and 

 cracked corn, buckwheat, wheat, and barley. Pieces of bread 

 thrown upon the water three times a week, and plenty of short 

 grass or lettuce and young cabbage will keep the birds in perfect 

 condition. They should also have Spratt's Patent Food soaked 

 in hot water, occasionally, and of course an abundance of ground 

 oyster shells and grit. If the birds are allowed the freedom of 

 a wide range of water and grass they will forage successfully for 

 themselves. The cygnets should be fed on Spratt's Patent, barley 

 meal, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and green food. 



THE BLACK SWAN. 



Chciiopsis atrata {Latham). 



This unique swan is a native of Australia and Tasmania, and 

 w^as formerly abundant in almost all parts of that region. It is of 

 a very dark brownish-black color, except the primaries and sec- 

 ondaries, which are pure white. The bill is scarlet, crossed with 



