136 



AQUATIC FOWL. 



to Batavia. Of late years this beautiful bird has been introduced 

 more abundantly here, where it thrives, and breeds twice in the 

 year ; and there is no doubt of its soon becoming almost as com- 

 mon as the tame swan. 



The black swan is inferior in size to the hooper ; its plumage 

 black, with the exception of the primary, and a few of the se- 

 condary quill feathers, which are white ; but these are obscured 

 by the curled secondaries, which hang, plume-like, over them. 

 The bill is of a bright red colour, crossed near the nail by a whitish 

 band; its base, in the male, is surmounted by a slight protuberance, 

 which is wanting in the female, underpart of the bill grayish white ; 

 legs and feet of a dull ash colour ; iris red ; trachea perfectly sim- 

 ple, not unlike that of the common swan. The note of this 

 species is harsh. They are generally seen in flocks of eight or 

 nine together, floating on a lake, and when disturbed, flying off 

 like wild geese, in a direct line one after another. 



There is a very beautiful swan on the coast of South America, 

 distinguished by a jet black head and neck, contrasting admirably 

 with the snowy whiteness of the rest of the plumage. The bill is 

 red, the legs and feet flesh-colour. It equals the hooper in size, 

 and, if alive in Britain, is only to be found at Knowsley. 



GRAY-LAO GOOSE, OR GRAY-LEGGED GOOSE. 



To the above I give precedence, being said to be the progenitor of 

 all our domestic geese a circumstance to which I cannot entirely 

 accede, my opinion being, that our domestic goose is made up of 

 gray-lag, white-fronted goose, bean goose, and pink-footed goose, 

 to each of which they occasionally show an affinity ; however, this 

 is a question for ornithologists. The gray-lag is the largest and 

 finest of our wild geese, and was, at one time, abundant in England 

 and Ireland, where it bred in the fens and morasses, but now, if 

 at all to be had with us, is one of our rarest visitors. I had a very 

 fine, healthy pair of them, which came to me, from one of the 

 islands in the Pacific Ocean. I had permission to keep them at the 

 Zoological Gardens, Phoenix Park, Dublin, from whence it was 

 said the female flew away ; the male bird is still in the possession 

 of A. Whyte Baker, Esq., County Kilkenny. They weigh about 

 ten pounds, and measure two feet nine inches in length, and 

 five in breadth. The bill is thick at the base, tapers towards the 

 top, and is of a yellowish-red colour, with the nail white ; the 

 head and neck are of a cinerous brown, tinged with dull yellow, 

 and, from the separation of the feathers, the latter appears striped 



