////: ii 



:il :i distance mere lines \\ilh black |M,inis. and ..cciip\ more than c,n.. half lli.-ir whole length ; 

 tli.-ir hea\\ In-lies. and triangular wing>. s^-ming I'Ul ..... n- appendage* to ll..- pio|,,ni:.-d Ixxly 



in front " 



'I'li.- Swan. when migratim:. with a m .derate wind in fa\.r. probably travels at the rate of 

 an hundred miles an hour. 



When f.t-ding, an<| dn->sin- their feathers, Swans muke a great outcry. and ran ! heard 

 se\ era 1 mil.- Theii notes an- extremely varied: some closely resembling ft deep bass of a 

 common tin horn, whll OlhttEl m 'I ..... '- 1 ' ' MtfillilBl Of ttle I''" -M< L |M>IH Ii is said that 

 these birds require ti\e or six years for maturity. Kewick's Swaii is sometimes found in thi 



Colth' 



TUB EUROPKAN SWAN (fHar cygnvt) is also a straggler here. 



TUB beautiful MAM>M:I\ DUCK in worthy of heading the lru- Hm-ks. for a more magnifl- 



r.-iitl> .-li.tli.-.l l-ird . an hardly l found when tin- nutlu IH in health, and in lii.s full nuptial 

 liliunage. 



Th.-v t'inl> an- natives <>f China, and are held in such esteem that they can hardly IN* 

 obtained at any price, the natives having a singular dislike to sevini; their l>irils jia.ss into the 

 ion of Kiii..|~-ana. "A gentleman." writes lr 15-nneit. "M-ry recently wrote from 

 '.. Chin L, n ijui stiny some oi ttWH bMfl 10 bf HBi '" liim- 'I''"- i !'!> was, that fi..m 

 the [ n-s< ill disturlx i stat< < hin . it > . , : ; - auki to Hid liim > paii !' maii'lai in- than 

 a jiair of Mandarin Ducks." This bird has the -mwer of jx-n-hing, and it is a curious sight to 

 watch them lurched <>n the branches of tre-s overhanging the jKHid in which they live, the 

 male and female U-iiii: always dose together, the one gorgeous in purple, green, white, and 

 chestnut, and the other .soU-rlv appan-lled in brown and gray. 



This handsome plumage of the male U lost during four months of the year, i.e., from 

 May to August, when the bird throws off his fine m-st, his wing-fans, all his brilliant colors, 

 and assumes a sober tinted dress rvsemhling that of his mate. The Summer Duck of America 

 (Aix sponsd) bears a dose resemblance to the Mandarin Duck, both in plumage and manners; 

 and at curtain times of the year is hardly to ! distinguished from that bird. The Mandarin 

 Duck has l>een successfully reared in the Zoological Hardens, some being hatched under the 

 parent bird, and others under a domestic hen. the latter hatching the eggs two days in advance 

 of the former. The eggs are of a creamy-brown color. 



The crest of this beautiful Duck is varied green and purple upon the top of the head, the 

 long crest-like feathers In-ing chestnut and green. From the eye to the beak, the color is 

 warm fawn, ami a strij** from the eye to the back of the neck is soft en-am. The sides of the 

 neck are clothed with long, jM.int.-d feathers of bright russet, and the front of the neck and 

 breast are rich, shining purple. The curious wing-fans, that stand erect like the wings of a 

 butterfly, an- chestnut, edged with the de*j-st green, and the shoulders are banded with four 

 stiijH-. iw,. black aii'i t" \\liite. 'I'li.- nii'l- i -uif.i.-.- i~ \\hite. The female is simply niotili-d 

 brown, and the young are pretty littlv birds, covered with downy plumage of a soft brown 

 mottled with gray, and creamy-white below. 



Tin Sim I.IIKAKKS. of which there are two European species, namely, the common 

 Shieldrake (Jbdorna rt/miixir) and the Ruddy Shieldrake (Ouarka rulila), are handsome 

 birds, and remarkable for the singular construction of the \\indpi]M>, which is expanded just 

 at the junction of the two bronchial tulx-s into two very thin horny globes, one being nearly 

 twice the size of the other. They are sometimes called Burrow I >ucks. !>ecause they lay their 

 eggs in rabbit -burrows made in sandy soil, and are often discovered by the impression of their 

 feet at the entrance of the holes. The nest* are made of grass, lined with down (.lucked from 

 the breast of the parent, and the eggs are generally from ten to twelve in number. 



THE well-known WIIM;KOX is very- plentiful in Europe, arriving about the end of September 

 or the beginning of October, and assembling in large flocks. 



Tot. D.-* 



