441 



CYGNUS BEWICKI. 



(BEWICK'S SWAN.) 



Cygnus olor j3. minor, Pall. Zoogr. Kosso-As. ii. p. 214 (1811). 



Oygnus bewickii, Yarrell, Trans. Linn. Soc. xvi. p. 445 (1833). 



Cygnus minor, Keys. & Bias. Wirbelth. Eur. p. 82 (1840). 



Cygnus melanorhinus, J. F. Naum. in Wiegm. Archiv, iv. p. 361, taf. viii. fig. 2 (1838). 



Cygnus musicus minor, Schlegel, Eev. Crit. p. 112 (1844). 



Olor minor (K. & B.), Bp. Cat. Parzud. p. 15 (1856). 



Cygnus altumi, Baed., fide Degl. & Gerbe, Orn. Eur. ii. p. 474 (1867). 



Cygne Bewick, French ; Jcleiner Schwan, schwarznasiger Schwan, German ; de kleine Zwaan, 

 Dutch ; Pibsvane, Danish. 



Figurce notabiles. 



Kjserb. Orn. Dan. taf. 55; Naumann, Vog. Deutschl. taf. 297; Sundevall, Svensk. Fogl. 

 pi. 81. fig. 3 ; Gould, B. of Eur. pi. 356 ; id. B. of G. Brit. v. pi. 10 ; Schlegel, Vog. 

 Nederl. pis. 292, 293. 



Ad. niveusj rostri basi (sed haud usque nares) et regione oculorum flavis : iride fusca : pedibus et rostro 

 reliquo nigris. 



Juv. Cygno musico similis, sed minor et saturatius coloratus : rostro plumbeo-nigro, ad basin lutescenti- 

 incarnato : iride fusca : pedibus griseo-nigris vix rufescenti tinctis. 



Adult Male (Leadenhall Market, November 1874). Entire plumage pure white; base of the bill lemon- 

 yellow, this colour not reaching to the nostril ; remainder of the bill black ; iris brown ; legs black ; 

 tail consisting of twenty rectrices. Total length about 46 inches, gape 3 - 4, wing 18 m 7, tail 7'0, 

 tarsus 3*85, middle toe 4 - 9, the second and third primaries longer than the first and fourth. 



Adult Female. Resembles the male, but is rather smaller in size. 



Young. Is said to resemble the young of Cygnus musicus, but is of course much smaller, and the coloration 

 of the plumage is rather darker; the base of the bill is yellowish flesh-colour, the remainder being 

 plumbeous black; legs greyish black with a reddish tinge. The young bird is said to have only 

 eighteen or nineteen tail-feathers. 



Easily recognizable by its much smaller size from the Whooper, as well as by other characteristics 

 above given, Bewick's Swan is indeed the smallest of our European Swans. It was first discrimi- 

 nated as being specifically distinct by Yarrell (I. c), who, observing that the trachea and bones 

 of a Swan sent to him for examination differed considerably from those of Cygnus musicus, was 

 induced to investigate the matter, and soon proved the validity of the present species. 



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