240 LECTURE VI. 



names of Swans, Geese and Ducks. This genus 

 is distinguished by 'having a broad, slightly convex 

 bill, toothed along the edges by numerous small 

 cartilaginous plates or processes, disposed like the 

 teeth of a comb ; and the tongue is obtuse, fleshy, 

 and slightly toothed or pectinated at the edges. 

 The two birds often confounded together by natu- 

 ralists, under the titles of the wild and tame Swan, 

 are now found to be truly distinct; nor does the 

 difference consist merely in the exterior appear- 

 ance, but in the interior organization ; the trachea 

 or w^ind-pipe in the tame Swan being simple or 

 straight, while in the wild Swan it is very strikingly 

 reflected or doubled into the sternum or breast- 

 bone, so as to be able to utter the powerful note 

 for which the bird is remarkable. The wild Swan 

 is rather smaller or more slender than the tame, 

 with a black beak, and a yellow cere at the base ; 

 while the tame Swan, on the contrary, has a red 

 or orange beak, with a large, globular, black cere 

 at the base. 



Every one has heard of the supposed musical 

 voice of the Swan, which was believed to be par- 

 ticularly exerted during its latest hours, when it 

 reclined on the banks of its native waters, and 



