THE SWAN. 123 



While many a cloiidling unfolded in light 

 His lining- of gold or of silvery white. 



Oh, how shall description with pencil or pen 



Pourtray all the Birds now in grove or in glen! 



Here the trees* bending branches the Perchers pos- 

 sess; 



There the Waders and Swimmers the waters caress; 



While the Scratchers of Earth sought a' worm; 

 with a bound 



The Snatchers flew swiftly aloft and around.* 



The Lord of the boundless bright realm of the Air, 

 With his broad sweeping wing, the proud Eagle, was 



there, t 

 His cere and his feet ting'd with yellowish gold ; 

 At once he appeared both majectic and bold : 

 With an eye, beak, and talons, that fierceness express, 

 Yet both plumage and air what is noble confess, — 

 A mien most imposing — a monarch supreme. 

 The SwAN,(*) too, sailed stately adown the clear stream; 



(*) Order, Anseres, (Linw.) Swan, Goose, Eider-Duck, 

 Duck, Teal, Widgeon, Garganey, Sec. 



The Genus Anas, of Linnaeus, to which the Swan, ^ was Cyg'- 

 nus, beh)ngs, is a very large and important tribe of birds, con- 



* See the arrangement of Mr. Vigors, as described in the 

 Introduction. 



t The thought in tliis couplet is derived" from iPkRCivAti an 

 American Poet. See note (1), article Halifc'etos. 



G 2 



