BLACK-NECKED SWAN. 1? 



hatched in. about seven or eight weeks. The young 

 do not acquire their full plumage till the second 

 year : during this period they are called cygnets, 

 and in former times were much esteemed as food, 

 though at present they are not in so much demand, 

 although they are sometimes fattened for the table, 

 and sold commonly for a guinea each, and sometimes 

 for more. The flesh of the old birds is very hard 

 and ill tasted. 



Nothing can exceed the graceful and elegant ap- 

 pearance of these birds when gently sailing along on 

 the glassy surface of the water, throwing themselves 

 into the proudest attitudes imaginable before the 

 spectators ; but when kept out of the water and con- 

 fined in a court-yard, they become dispirited, dirty, 

 and awkward in their movements. 



BLACK-NECKED SWAN. 



(Cygnus nigricollis.) 



Cv. capite collogue nigris, corpore albo, rostra rubro. 



Swan with the head and neck black, the body white, the beak red. 



Anas nigricollis. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 502. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 



834. 



Anas melanocephalus. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 502. 

 Black-necked Swan. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 438. Lath. Syn. Sup* 



ii. 344. 



BUT little is known of this species, which in every 

 respect appears to resemble the preceding bird, except 



V. XII. P. II. 2 



