TENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 171 



Black-Necked Swans on August 2, 1670, while sailing through 

 the Straits of Magellan. 



The bird is not uncommon in captivity, and occasionally breeds, 

 but unless gradually acclimated it is apt to succumb to severe cold 

 weather. It requires more careful feeding than does any other 

 species of swan. 



THE MUTE SWAN. 



Cygiiiis olor (Guiel.). 



This is the most common swan of European history and legend. 

 Its common name is given because of its inability to give utter- 

 ance to tones as loud or as musical as those which characterize its 

 congeners ; Avhile its scientific name is from two Latin words, each 

 meaning a swan. The bird is, however, far from being actually 

 mute, and has a soft, not unmusical note. This beautiful swan, 

 the commonest of all seen in captivity, ranges in a feral state 

 over almost the whole of Europe, and as far east as central Asia. 

 In winter it is found on the waters of northern India and Egypt. 



The Mute Swan is pure white, with dull black feet and legs, 

 and its most distinguishing characteristic, which at once sets it 

 off from the four remaining species of white swans, is a large 

 black knob, or tubercle, at the base of the bill. The lores, the 

 knob, the base of the upper and the entire under mandible are 

 black ; the remaining part of the upper mandible being reddish 

 orange. The female is similar to the male, although rather 

 smaller, with a more slender neck and with the frontal knob less 

 developed. This species reaches an extreme length of five feet. 



The Mute Swan was introduced into England during the reign 

 of Richard Coeur de Lion, and, although not indigenous, it has 

 become so naturalized that full-winged birds show no inclination 

 to leave. 



Both sexes unite in gathering a large pile of reeds and other 

 aquatic plants, two or three feet high and five or six across, in a 

 hollow in the top of which the female lays from five to nine eggs, 

 grayish olive in color. After five or six weeks of incubation the 

 young are hatched, coming into the world clad in a thick down 

 of sooty gray, which gives place to the first plumage of dark 

 grayish brown. In the course of a year, or even a longer period, 

 this, in turn, is gradually replaced by the white feathers of the 

 adult. 



The young, as is the case with all swans, seem to feed and 

 swim instinctively. The parents are very solicitous about their 



