THE BLACK SWAN 



The black swan is a noisy species, more especially during the pairing- 

 season, when it gives vent to loud trumpetings. When doing so, the neck is 

 stretched out straight along the water, so that the beak lies close to the surface. 

 At this season the males become very pugnacious, and fight much among them- 

 selves. 



It is a beautiful sight to watch a party of these swans swimming on a still 

 lake or river by moonlight in large circles ; but this is exceeded when the birds 

 mount into the air and reveal the striking contrast formed by the white of the 

 pinions against the sable of the rest of the plumage. When flying, these swans 

 stretch out their necks to the fullest extent, and accompany the loud and regular 

 beat of their wings with continuous and resounding trumpetings. 



The black swan bears captivity well, alike in its own country and in 

 Europe, being content with small rations and breeding regularly every season. 



The Australian black swan is by no means the only abnormally coloured 

 member of its tribe inhabiting the Southern Hemisphere, its place in South 

 America being taken by the black-necked swan (C. nigricollis), which is a native 

 of Chile, Argentina, and some of the other southern countries. In this handsome 

 species the head and neck are black, and the remainder of the plumage white ; the 

 lores, or bare patches in front of the eyes, and the basal portion of the beak being- 

 red. In its long and wedge-shaped tail the black-necked swan differs from the 

 black species and resembles the ordinary European mute swan (C. olor), from 

 which it is structurally distinguished by the scalloped margins of the webs of the 

 toes. The adults of all swans, except the black and the black-necked species, are 

 wholly white ; the smallest kind is the coscoroba swan of South America, which 

 is no larger than a goose, and has been referred to a genus by itself. 



