59S CLASS AVES. 



more high than wide at its base ; the nostrils are 

 nearly midway of its length ; the neck is very much 

 elongated. These are the largest birds of their 

 genus. They subsist principally on grains and roots 

 of aquatic plants, and thence their intestines, and 

 especially the coeca, are very long. Their trachea 

 has no enlargement. 



We have two species in Europe. 



Tame, or Mute Swan, Anas Olor. Gm. Enl. 913, 



With a red bill bordered with black, and with a 

 round protuberance at its base ; the plumage is white 

 as snow. The young have the bill lead-colour, and 

 the plumage, grey. This is the species, which, when 

 domesticated, becomes so great an ornament to our 

 lakes and rivers. The gentleness of its movements, 

 the elegance of its form, and the dazzhng brightness 

 of its plumage, have rendered it the emblem of beauty 

 and innocence. They live both on fish and vege- 

 tables, fly very high and fast, and swim with rapidity 

 taking the wind with their wings, which also serve 

 them, on occasions, as powerful weapons against their 

 adversaries. They build among reeds in ponds, and 

 lay six or eight greenish-grey eggs. 



Wild, or TVhistling Swan. Cygnus Gelhus, Bechst. 

 Anas Cygnus, Gm. Edw. 150, Brit. Zool. pi. 2. 

 Naum. 1st Ed t. 13, f 27, 



Has the bill black, with a yellow base ; the body is 



