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Birds. 



the Tame, or the Whooping and Mute, Swans. They 

 may easily be recognised by the peculiarities of the bill : 

 the Tame Swan has the bill orange-coloured, with its 

 base black, and surmounted by a black knob ; the Wild 

 Swan has no knob, and it is the tip instead of the base 

 of the bill that is black. 



THE WILD SWAN, WHOOPING SWAN, OR 

 WHISTLING SWAN, (Cygnus ferns,) 



Is also a fine bird, with beautifully white plumage ; 

 unlike the Tame Swan, which is nearly mute, it has 

 a loud and rather melodious voice, which it utters fre- 

 quently, as it flies along at a great height in the air, 

 during its migrations. It is found in England in the 

 winter, but resides all the year in the north of Scotland. 

 Its favourite place for breeding is in the extreme north. 

 The Tame Swan is the largest of our web-footed water- 

 fowl, sometimes weighing about thirty pounds: the 

 whole body of the full-grown Swan is covered with a 

 beautiful pure white plumage, but the young ones are 

 grey ; under the feathers is a thick, soft down, which 



