THE SWIMMTNG, OR NATATORIAL GROUP, 185 



first pointed out its clifFerential characters. lu 

 this species, the black tubercle at the base of 

 the beak is small even in old males : the legs, 

 the toes, aud intervening webs are slate gray. 

 The cygnets are of as pure a white as the 

 adults, and consequently undergo no change 

 of colouring. The windpipe is simple as in 

 the tame swan ; there are, however, many very 

 marked differences in the osteological structure 

 of the two birds, which have been pointed out 

 by "W. G. Pelerin, esq., in the Magazine of 

 Nat. Hist. 1839, p. 179. 



The Polish swan is a native of the north of 

 Europe and the borders of the Baltic, and 

 occasionally visits our island, sometimes even 

 in considerable numbers. Young individuals 

 when captured readily become tamed, and 

 breed freely on sheets of water. 



Of the other wild swans of Europe and 

 Asia, we may enumerate the hooper, or 

 whistling swan, {cygnns ferns — Ray ; cygnus 

 musicus — Bechstein.) 



This species is spread throughout the whole 

 northern range of Europe and Asia, breeding 

 in the high northern latitudes, (occasionally in 

 the Shetland and Orkney isles,) and migrating 

 southwards in winter, even to the shores of 



