SWANS DUCKS 79 



brenta (Pallas)]. Winter visitor, often in large flocks, chiefly 

 on our east coasts. Bird of passage. 



Bird. Length 22 in. Therefore smaller than the barnacle, 

 from which it may be distinguished by 

 the black of the head, neck, and upper 

 breast, relieved only by a patch of white 

 on the neck ; by the dusky brown of the 

 mantle, and brownish-grey of the lower 

 and mid-breast. Beak, legs, wing, and 

 tail quills black. Tail-coverts and belly 

 white. The young lack the white neck 

 patch, and the forebreast is grey, not j?ig. 93. 



black. 



Family : Anatidce. (b) Subfamily : Cygnince Swans 



160. Mute-swan [Gygnus olor (Gmelin)]. Semi-domesticated, 

 resident and stationary species. 



Bird. Length 60 in. This familiar tenant on our lakes and 

 rivers may be distinguished from its two wild relatives, the 

 whooper (60 in.) and the smaller Bewick's swan (50 in.) by its 

 reddish beak and black " berry " at the base thereof. Both 

 the whooper and Bewick have the bill yellow on the basal part 

 and black on the tip part, but in the whooper a tongue of the 

 yellow extends forward on each side under and beyond the 

 nostrils. Plumage white. The young swan or cygnet is dusky 

 or brownish-grey. 



Nest. Usually near the water edge. A mass of aquatic 

 plants, rushes, grasses, &c. 



Eggs. Usually 5-12. Greenish -white to greenish. A v. size 

 4*44 x 2*89 in. Laying usually begins in April. One brood. 



Family : Anatidce. (c) Subfamily : Anatince Shelduck and 

 Surface-water Ducks 



161. Common - shelduck [Tadoma tadorna (Linnaeus) ; 

 Tadorna cornuta (S. G. Gmelin)]. Resident on flat coasts and 

 estuaries. Breeds inland in parts. 



Bird. Length 25 in. Distinguished by its large size and the 

 boldly marked contrast of its plumage, which is white with 

 greenish-black on the head and neck, with a broad chestnut 

 band round the forepart of the body, a dark band down the 

 middle of the white breast and black on the scapulars and 

 primaries. Tail tipped black. Speculum or wing-spot, chest- 

 nut-red and steel-blue. Beak red with a basal knob. The 

 female lacks the basal knob. The young lack the chestnut 

 band and black breast-stripe. 



