Black and Black-necked Swans 175 



and like the others is pure white. In the wild state it is found in summer from 

 north and central Europe to central Asia, and in winter south to northern 

 India and the Caspian and Mediterranean seas. It has apparently been in 

 domestication in England since about the close of the twelfth century, and has 

 now been taken throughout the world as an ornamental bird on lakes and ponds 

 in parks and estates. There is a large swannery near Weymouth, England, 

 which in 1880 numbered about 800 birds, where they breed freely and may 

 possibly mix with the really wild birds which appear at intervals on the English 

 coast. 



Black-necked Swan. The remaining member of this genus is the beauti- 

 ful Black-necked Swan (C. melanocoryphus} of southern South America. It 

 is about forty-eight inches in length and is pure white, except the head and 

 upper two thirds of the neck, which are black with a velvet gloss, and there 

 is also a narrow white stripe surrounding the eye and extending backward to 

 the nape. The base of the bill and the knob are bright red, the remainder of 

 the bill bluish. Mr. Hudson tells us that this species is very abundant on the 

 pampas of Buenos Ayres and Patagonia, where it is seen about the watercourses 

 in small flocks or occasionally in hundreds. They breed in July, the nest being 

 " always placed among thick rushes growing in deep water. It is built up 

 from the bottom of the swamp, sometimes through four or five feet of water, 

 and rises a foot and a half above the surface. The top of the nest measures 

 about two feet across, with a slight hollow for the eggs," which are three to five 

 in number and cream-colored, with a smooth, glossy shell. 



Black Swan. The last of the Swans is the celebrated Black Swan (Che- 

 nopis atrata) of Australia. It is a smaller bird than some of the white species, 

 being only about forty inches long, and is brownish black throughout, with 

 the lower surface paler, and with the primaries and secondaries pure white. 

 The bill is scarlet, crossed near the tip by a broad white band. Aside from 

 the color, which of course serves to distinguish it at once, the inner wing-feathers 

 and feathers between the shoulders are crisped or curled and raised. The 

 neck is long and slender, and carried in a very graceful curve, which, with its 

 comparative tameness, makes it one of the most attractive birds of the whole 

 group. 



Semi-palmated Goose. We now pass to the consideration of the Geese, 

 not, however, the more typical members, but first a few of the so-called outliers, 

 beginning with the Semi-palmated Goose (Anseranas semipalmata) of Australia, 

 which stands as the sole representative of a subfamily (Anseranatince) . As the 

 name implies, this bird has the toes only slightly webbed at the base, and in 

 addition the hind toe is very long and on the same plane as the front ones. 

 The plumage presents a pied but decidedly elegant appearance, the head, 

 neck, mantle, wings, tail, and thighs being black, and the back, breast, abdo- 

 men, tail-coverts, and smaller wing-coverts white. The total length is about 

 thirty-five inches. The habits of this Goose are peculiar in that it is not 

 nearly so aquatic as most others, rarely visiting water, it is said, but spend- 

 ing hours perched on trees, for which its partially webbed feet especially 



