ORDER PALMIPEDES. ()0i 



to persuade themselves of its truth. It is unnecessary to 

 trouble our readers with any details of their arguments and 

 experiments, and quite sufficient to observe, from all credit- 

 able evidence, that the opinion is vitterly unfounded. Nothing 

 is more easy than to believe what we wish to believe, and, 

 therefore, it was not difficult for a superstitious zealot of an- 

 tiquity to fancy he had discovered a regular gamut, in the 

 dissonant cries of the wild swan. ^ There is, however, a pecu- 

 liar conformation of the trachea, in this species, to which the 

 production of such cries must be attributed. 



The comparative modern discovery of the Black Swan 

 seems to lead to the conclusion that the Cygnus Niger of 

 antiquity was not altogether a fabulous creature. If, how- 

 ever, the ancients had any real knowledge of it, it is clear the 

 species must have changed its habitat, for it is now indigenous 

 in New Holland only. 



Our figure of the Black Necked Swan, mentioned by 

 Molina, and subsequently by Azara, as proper to South 

 America, is from a specimen in the Museum of New York, 

 drawn by INIajor Hamilton Smith. 



The Spur-ivinged Swan, or Gambian Goose, is interme- 

 diate in size between the wild swan and common goose. It 

 is, however, most remarkable for the large red protuberance 

 on the base of the bill, and for the two obtuse spurs witli 

 which the wing is armed, the dark part of the plumage of 

 this bird are purpled black. It is found in Gambia and 

 Senegal. 



As for the Geese, in general, they live in meadows and 

 marshes, feeding on aquatic plants and grains. They are 

 polygamous, nestle on the ground, and the young, which 

 walk as soon as they are born, feed of their own accord. The 

 geese do not swim much, and never dive. The moulting is 

 double in the majority of species. The natural cry of tlie 



