TAME SWAN. ipS 



curing which, its long neck, as in other birds of its 

 own family, is absolutely necessary. When swimming, 

 it carries its neck much more upright than does the 

 common swan, with little of that graceful arch for 

 which the latter is distinguished. It walks, also, 

 heavily and awkwardly, with the head lowered, and the 

 neck reclining over the back. 



The Tame Swan. 

 Cygnus mansuetus, Raij. 



Entirely white : bill with a black protuberance at its 

 base. 



Cygnus mansuetus, Ray. Syn. 136. a. i. Linn., Auct. Le 

 Cygne, Buff. PL Enl. 91 '3. Cygne tubercule, Temm. Man. 

 n. 830. Tame Swan, Edwards, pi. 1 50. Mute Swan, Pen- 

 nant, Latham, &c. 



The countries inhabited by this majestic and well- 

 known species in a wild state, are in a directly opposite 

 situation to those of the wild species : the one living 

 in the frigid regions of Europe, the other in the genial 

 latitudes of the eastern provinces of that continent, 

 but more particularly the great inland seas and lakes 

 bordering upon Asia; where, according to modern tra- 

 vellers, the tame swan is still found in its native 

 freedom. At what period it became domesticated, is 

 wholly uncertain ; but it has, for many centuries, been 

 spread over all parts of civilised Europe ; and of all 

 the natatorial birds yet domesticated, it is justly es- 

 teemed the most graceful and imposing. Some M'riters 

 mention that the tame swan is particularly abundant in 

 Siberia * ; but it is more than probable that they have 

 mistaken the wild northern swans, C. ferns and Bewickii, 

 for the tame one. Statements of this sort, made by 

 travellers who are not naturalists, must always be 

 received with suspicion, more especially in cases like the 

 present, where even ornithologists themselves, by con- 



* Zool. Gardens, i. 167. 

 O 



