232 



AMERICAN SWAN. 



medial, elliptical, direct, near the ridge; nasal groove elliptical. Lower 

 mandible flattened, slightly recurved; the angle long and rather narrow, the 

 edges parallel, the tip truncate, the unguis somewhat triangular. 



Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Neck very long and slender. 

 Body very large. Feet short, stout, placed a little behind the centre of the 

 body; tibia bare for an inch and a half, and reticulated; tarsus short, 

 moderately compressed, reticulated all round with angular scales, of which 

 the anterior are larger; hind toe very small, scutellate above, granulate 

 beneath; anterior toes longer than the tarsus, the outer a little shorter than 

 the third, all reticulate above as far as the second joint, scutellate in the rest 

 of their extent, connected by webs of which the margin is entire, the outer 

 with a thick margin, the inner with a broader two-lobed margin. Claws of 

 moderate size, arched, strong, rather acute, that of the middle toe with the 

 inner edge dilated. 



Plumage full, compact above, blended beneath; feathers of the head and 

 neck softer, small, ovate, rounded. Wings ample, convex; the first quill 

 eight-twelfths of an inch shorter than the second, which is longest, but 

 scarcely exceeds the third; the first, second, and third cut out on the inner 

 web. Secondaries long, broad, and rounded. Tail very short, much 

 rounded, of twenty broad rounded feathers, of which the lateral are an inch 

 and nine-twelfths shorter than the middle. The bill and the bare space on 

 the fore part of the head black, with an orange oblong patch from the 

 anterior angle of the eye; sides of lower mandible and inside of mouth 

 yellowish flesh-colour. Iris brown; feet and claws black. The plumage is 

 entirely pure white. 



Length to end of tail 53 inches, to end of wings 50^, to end of claws 58; 

 extent of wings S4; bill along the ridge 4, from the tip to the eye 4 T \; wing 

 from flexure 22-^; tail 7i; tarsus 4^; hind toe T 8 2, its claw T 3 5 ; second toe 

 3 T 8 2, its claw y|; third toe -^, its claw ||; fourth toe 4 T 8 2-; its claw -jj- 

 Weight 19^ lbs. Another individual weighed only 14 lbs. 



Individuals of both sexes have the upper part of the head and a portion of 

 the neck tinged with brownish-red. 



The female is somewhat smaller, but otherwise similar. 

 The young in its first plumage is of a uniform light bluish-grey, paler 

 beneath, the fore and upper parts of the head tinged with red, the bill reddish 

 flesh-colour, dusky at the point; the spaces between the eye and the bill, and 

 between its basal angles, covered with minute feathers, which entirely 

 disappear in the adult. The feet are dull yellowish flesh-colour. 



An adult female, procured at Philadelphia. The edges of the upper 

 mandible are soft, with about 40 transverse lamella?, which do not project 

 beyond the margin; those of the lower with about 60 marginal lamella?, the 



