FLAMINGO. 153 



like the cry of the wild goose, a cry which is occasionally repeated 

 during flight. When feeding, they are more easily approached. 

 They are excellent eating. I have seen Flamingoes kept alive at 

 Hyderabad in the Deccan. It has been stated that they sleep on 

 one leir, with the neck bent back, and the head under the win^. 

 Nuttall says that they run swiftly, but I have never seen them, even 

 when in danger, move at any other pace than a stately, moder- 

 ately rapid walk. They are said to swim well with the port of 

 Swans, but I have never seen them do so. 



Other species, besides P. minor, T., from Africa, are P. 

 ignipalliatus of South America, and P. ery throws, Verreaux, if 

 distinct from our species. 



Fam. Cygnid^e. 



The Swans are well characterized by their enormously long 

 necks and moderate feet. They have the bill high at the base 

 and of equal- breadth throughout, are of very large size, and feed 

 on the seeds and roots of water plants, and also on grass. Their 

 intestines are very long, as are their coeca. They possess 23 cervical 

 vertebras. The trachea has no inflation or labyrinth. The sexes 

 are alike, and they have no seasonal change. The male guards 

 the female during incubation. 



In one group the trachea, after making a slight curve to- 

 wards the ridge of the sternum, enters the lungs, and there 

 is usually a fleshy caruncle over the base of the upper man- 

 dible. To this section belongs Cygnus olor, or the Mute 

 Swan, of which C. immvtabilis is the wild race. Others of this 

 group are C. nigricollis and C. anatoides of South America ; and 

 the celebrated black Swan, C. atratus, which is separated as 

 Cehnopis, "Wagler. 



The birds of the next group have the trachea elongated, as in the 

 Cranes, and entering a cavity in the sternal ridge. They have no 

 protuberance on their bill, are all white, with black feet, and are 

 restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. To this group belong the 

 Hooper Swan, Cygnus musicus, and Bewick's Swan, C. Bewickii, 

 of Europe ; and two American species, C. buccinator or the Trum- 

 peter Swan, and C. Americanus. 



