264 WATER FOWL. 



FAMILY ANATID^E. 



SWAN, GEESE, DUCKS, AND MERGANSERS. 



THIS great family, represented throughout the world, 

 contains the Swan, Geese, and Ducks, including the 

 Mergansers or Saw-billed Ducks so-called. At one time 

 North America was inhabited by myriads of these fowl, 

 which passed throughout the length and breadth of the 

 continent during spring and autumn in countless num- 

 bers; but of late years their ranks have been greatly 

 thinned, and it is evident to the most casual observer that 

 the birds are rapidly passing away. Of the many sub- 

 families of which the Family of the Anatidse is composed, 

 only seven are represented in North America, containing, 

 according to the author's views, sixty-two species and 

 subspecies, some of which, however, are not strictly 

 natives of the continent, but merely stragglers within its 

 borders. The first of the subfamilies, following the 

 arrangement decided upon for this book, is: 



SUBFAMILY CYGNIN^E. 



THE SWAN. 



IN this division are placed the largest birds among the 

 Water Fowl, the Swan. There are but few species, and 

 these are found pretty much throughout the world. 

 Usually of an immaculate white plumage when adult, 

 there is one exception, the Australian Swan, which is 

 black, thus sustaining the character of the general fauna 

 of that continent, in being different from those of other 

 parts of the world. There are about eight species known 

 of Swan or Swan-like birds, placed in three genera, five 



