10 aw fins Cie 8B 
known to moft people; and it muft be a powerful man who is able 
to withftand the fury of an enraged one. A circumftance has come 
to our knowledge, fhewing at leaft the fuperiority the Swaz has on its 
own element, for a female of one of thefe, whilft fitting, obferving a 
fox fwimming towards her from the oppofite fhore, inftantly darted 
into the water, and having kept the fox at bay for a confiderable time 
with her wings, at laft fucceeded in drowning him, after which, fhe 
retired in triumph, in the fight of feveral perfons. This happened 
at Penjy, in Buckinghamfbire. 
Anas atrata, Jad. Orn. ti. p. 834. 4. ; 
Black Swan of Van Diemen, D’Entrecafteaux Voy. 8vo. i. p. 140. pl. iX— 
Nat. Mifc. pl. 108.—Phillips’s Voy. p. 98.—White’s Fournal, p. 137. 
"THIS is a large bird, not inferior in fize to our European {pecies, 
and extends from the tip of one wing to that of the other, four 
feet eight inches: the bill is large and red; towards the end paler ; on 
the bafe of the upper mandible, at the noftrils, a bifid protuberance ; 
the under mandible white beneath, and red on the fides: irides red: 
the general colour of the plumage is deep black ; but the greater part 
of the fecond quills, and all the prime ones, are white; alfo two or 
more white feathers on the coverts: belly and thighs afh colour: legs 
flefh coloured brown. 
In what other particulars the female differs from the male, we are 
not told, further than that the protuberance at the top of the bill is 
wanting. 
Inhabits various parts of New Holland, where it has been long no- 
ticed. I find it firit mentioned in a letter from Mr. Witfen to Dr. 
M. Lifter, about the year 1698, which fays, here is returned a fhip, 
which by our Eaf India company was fent to the fouth land, called 
Hollandia Nova, and adds, that Black Swans, Parrots, and many Sea 
2 Cows. 
343 
%. 
BLACK 
SWAN. 
DESCRIPTION» 
PLACE. 
