sn 



OTGira 



CYGMN.i: 



171 



Thi* *p*rM* breed* in captivity, and may frequently be seen on 

 ' ' pieces of water in a half domesticated state. 



Steranm of Hooper with a portion of one aide of the keel removed to show 

 the convoluted tube within. Yarrell. 



C. Bftrirkii. Independent of external characters, the anatomical 

 distinctions pointed out by Mr. Yarrell, who first proposed to sepa- 

 rate the upecies under the name here given, clearly point out the 

 difference between it and the Hooper. " The principal and moat 

 obvious difference," say* Mr. Yarrell, " is in the trachea. The tube 

 of the windpipe u of equal diameter throughout, and, descending in 

 front of the neck, enters the keel of the sternum, which is hollow, as 

 in the Hooper, traversing the whole length. Having arrived at the 

 end of the keel, the tube, then gradually inclining upwards and out- 

 warda, pawn into cavity in the sternum destined to receive it, 

 caoaed by a separation of the parallel horizontal plates of bone form- 

 ing the posterior flattened portion of the breast-bone, and producing 

 convex protuberance on the inner surface. The tube also changing 

 iu direction from vertical to horizontal, and reaching within half an 

 inch of the posterior edge, is reflected back after making a considerable 

 curve, till it once more reaches the keel, again traversing which, iu 

 a line immediately over the first portion of the tube, it panes out 

 under the arch of the merrythought, where, turning upwards, and 

 afterwards backwards, it enters the body of the bird, to be attached 

 to the lungs in the usual manner. This is the state of development 

 in the oldest bird I have yet met with. The degree next in order, or 

 younger, differs in having the horizontal loop of the trachea confined 

 to one side only of the cavity in the sternum, both sides of which 

 cavity are at this time formed, but the loop of the tube is not yet 

 sufficiently elongated to occupy the whole space ; and the third in 

 order, from a still younger bird, possesses only the vertical insertion 

 of the fold of the trachea." Mr. Yarrell adds however, that in this 

 last case the cavity in the posterior part of the sternum already exists 

 to a considerable extent 



Bewick's Swan is much smaller than the Hooper, the whole length 

 being from 3 feet 10 inches to 4 feet 2 inches. 



Mead of Brwkk'i Swan ((\fnut Bririrl.,, . 



"Young bird*," nay* Mr. Yarrell, "an they appear here in the 

 t'lumage of their first winter, are grayiih-brown. At their second 

 winter, when they have acquired the white plumage, the irides are 

 nrange ; the head and breast strongly marked with rusty red ; base 

 of UM beak lemon-yellow ; when of J-r, some continue to exhibit a 

 ting* of mat-colour oil the head after that on the lireiwt. has p-uued 

 oC The adult bird U of a pure unsullied white ; the base of the 

 h*ak orange-yellow ; the irides dark ; the legs, too*, and membranes 

 black." 



The anterior part of the bill is black, and, in tin- males, orange- 

 yellow at the bane, which is of a letnon-oolonr in the females. 



It is found in the north of Kurope and America certainly, ami f 

 Asia probably. It brrvd* within tin- arHir ,;,, !.-. and in lotted in 

 May, according to Teuimiuck, who nays that it has been found on the 



maritime coasts of Pioardy. It is an occasional visitor to the British 

 Islands, especially in severe winters. 



The nest, according to Captain Lyon, is constructed of moss-peat, 

 is nearly feet long, 4] feet wide, and 2 feet high on the outside, 

 with the cavity a foot and a half in diameter. The eggs, six or seven 

 in number, are of a yellowish-brown, according to Temininck ; 

 brownish-white slightly clouded with a darker tint, according to 

 Lyon. The call-note of this species is said to be a low-toned whistle, 

 according to Mr. Sinclaire, but this was in confinement. Mr. Black- 

 wall describes their calls in their wild flights as loud, and says that a 

 flock of twenty-nine of them were very clamorous. 



6'. inMHHlalUit (Yarrell), the. Polish Swan, is another wild species, 

 and it* cygnets, unlike those of the other white swans, are pure 

 white. It has been kept in captivity. Mr. Yarrell states that 1 -<>r< 1 

 Derby purchased a pair of these swans, and sent them to Knowsley. 

 The female died. The male paired with a Mute Swan (C. Otor), and 

 a brood was the result ; but the hybrids, though old enough, neither 

 paired among themselves nor with any of the Mute Swans on th 

 name water. 



Hesd of Polinh Swan [Ci/ynai immttlaHlu}. 



The following is Mr. Yarrell's description of the Polish Swan : 



" In the adult bird the beak is reddish-orange ; the nail, lateral 

 margins, nostrils, and base of the upper mandible, black ; the tubercle, 

 even in an old male, of small size ; the irides brown ; the head, neck, 

 and the whole of the plumage, pure white ; legs, toes, and intervening 

 membranes, slate-gray. From the point of the beak to the end of the 

 tnil, r>7 inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the second quill- 

 feather, which is the longest in the win);, 214 inches ; tarsus 4 inches ; 

 middle toe and nail, 5j inches. Its food and habits closely resemble 

 those of the mute swan. The organ of voice appears, from one that 

 I examined, to be like that of the mute swan ; but Mr. Pelerin has 

 found considerable differences in various parts of the head : the 

 description and measurements were given in a paper published in tho 

 'Magazine of Natural History' for 1839, p. 178." 



Mr. Yarrell then extracts Mr. Pelerin' s comparative measurements 

 of the crania of adult Mute and Polish Swans, and states that he has 

 verified all his observations. 



C. Otor (Genus Olor, Wagl). Our Mute half-domesticated Swan is 

 too well known to require description. The trachea has none of the 

 complicated structure of that of the Hooper, and is even more simple 

 than that of the Black Swan. The large tubercle, or berry, as the 

 swanherds term it, at the base, of the bill, at once distinguishes this 

 graceful species from its congeners. 



Head of Mute Swan (Cffiua Otor). 



It i tho Cjgue of lh Kronen ; C'igno and Ciguo Keale of the 

 Italians ; Scliwan and Hooker Schwan of the Germans ; Tain Svane 

 of the Danes ; Tame Swan or Mute Swan of the English ; and Alarch 

 of the Welch. 



This elegant bird is said to exist in a wild state in Russia and 

 Siberia. The Prince of Canino, in his 'Specchio Comparative,' 

 speaks of it a* occurring in the Dtighboorhood of Home ("raro 

 iivv.-nti/.io d'inverno"); anil, in hin Kirdu ->f Kimi|.o and North 

 America,' he gives north-eastern Europe as the locality. The Polish 



