THB SWAN. 126 



THE SWAN. (Anas Cygniu.) 



So much difference is there between this bird when on 

 land and in the water, that it is hardly to be supposed thr 

 same; for in the latter, no bird can possibly exceed it fa 

 beauty and majestic appearance. When it ascends ftom 

 its favourite element, its motions are awkward, and its neck is 

 stretched forward with an air of stupidity ; it has, indeed, 

 the air of being only a larger sort of goose ; but when seen 

 smoothly gliding along the water, displaying a thousand 

 graceful attitudes, and moving at pleasure without the 

 tmallest apparent effort, there is not a more beautiful figure 

 in all nature. In its form, we find no broken or harsh 

 lines; in its motions, nothing constrained or abrupt; but 

 the roundest contours, and the easiest transitions ; the eye 

 wanders over the whole with unalloyed pleasure, and with 

 every change of position every part assumes a new grace. 

 It will swim faster than a man can walk. 



This bird has long been rendered domestic; and it le 

 now a doubt whether there be any of the tame kind in a 

 state of' nature. The colour of the tame Swan is entirely 

 whit<^, and it generally weighs full twenty pounds. Under 

 thtt feathers is a very thick soft down, which is made x'Z 

 article of commerce, for purposes of both use and ornament 

 The windpipe sinks down into the lungs in the ordinary 

 manner ; and it is the most silent of all the feathered tribes ; 

 it can do nothing more than hiss, which it does on receiving 



