BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



219 



time of year. It is also found inhabiting the coasts of the 

 North Atlantic. The adult male has the head and neck 

 white, suffused with warm buff; the rest of the plumage, 

 white, with the exception of the primaries, which are black ; 

 naked skin round eyes, greyish-blue; bill, horny-white; 

 irides, light straw-yellow; fore part of legs and toes, green. 

 Length, from thirty to thirty-four inches. The female 

 resembles male. The young, on upper parts, are dark 

 brownish-ash, mottled with white ; under parts, dusky-ash 

 and buff. 



fIDute Swan, 



THE Mute Swan (Cygnus olor, J. E. Gmelin) is a more or 

 less domesticated species in this country, although it is not 

 improbable that in hard winters a few really wild examples 

 visit the British Isles. It is an inhabitant of most portions 

 of the Palearctic Region. The adult has the whole of the 



