ANSERINE. CYGNUS. 159 



242. CYGNUS BEWICKII. BEWICK'S SWAN. 



Male about forty-five inches long, seventy-four in extent of 

 wings ; bill from the joint to the tip of the upper mandible 

 three inches, its greatest breadth toward the end an inch and 

 a twelfth, from the eye to the tip of the bill four inches and 

 five-twelfths ; tarsus three inches and nine-twelfths ; middle 

 toe four inches and a half, its claw ten-twelfths; tail of 

 twenty (often eighteen) feathers, much rounded ; bare space 

 on the forehead, and between the eyes and bill, bright yellow, 

 as is the base of the upper mandible, that colour extending 

 in an angular form, but not reaching the nostrils ; feet black, 

 plumage pure white, the head and neck tinged with orange- 

 red. Female similar to the mal'e, but considerably smaller. 

 Young with the bill dusky at the end, flesh-coloured toward 

 the base, the partially bare skin at its base flesh-colour; the 

 feet reddish-grey ; the plumage pale bluish-grey, the upper 

 part of the head darker. 



Male, 45, 74, 20J, 3, 4 T ^, 4J, if. 



This species, first distinguished by Mr Wingate, and com- 

 pared, characterized, and described by Mr Yarrell, has fre- 

 quently been shot in England, where it seems to be at least 

 as common as Cygnus musicus. It appears to be equally so 

 in Scotland. In 1836 I had an adult female, and in 1838 a 

 male, both obtained in Edinburgh. 



In the adult the trachea enters the crest of the sternum, 

 extends beyond it, forming a horizontal loop, then returns, 

 enters the thorax to the distance of about two inches ; the 

 syrinx compressed to half an inch ; the bronchi an inch and a 

 half long. In the young it enters the crest only, and its loop 

 gradually extends, so as ultimately to reach within half an 

 inch of the posterior extremity of the sternum. 



In an adult male the oesophagus twenty-six inches long; 

 the gizzard three inches and three-fourths in breadth ; intes- 

 tine eight feet and a half in length ; cceca ten inches long. 

 In a female the oesophagus twenty-five inches long ; the giz- 

 zard three inches and a half in breadth ; intestine eight feet 

 in length ; coeca nine inches and a half ; rectum six and a 

 half. 



Cygnus Bewickii, Yarrell, Linn. Trans, xvi. 445. Cygnus 

 Bewickii, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. iv. 527. Cygnus Bewickii, 

 Bewick's Swan, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 



