duck. 225 



brought alive to Batavia, as confirmed by Valentyn, several being 

 found in New-Holland, near Dirk Hartog's Bay. Since that time 

 our circumnavigators, from Capt. Cook to the present day, have 

 found them every where in those parts, eight or nine having been 

 met with together, and they are said to fly one after another like 

 Wild Geese; but the general manners remain yet to be ascertained. 

 The natives of New South Wales call this species Mulgo. Feed 

 chiefly on grass. Tt may be observed, that the Black Swan is smaller 

 in the body than either the Wild or Tame Species ; the neck very 

 long, and at times the bird swells out the feathers, which are very 

 long, especially about the middle, so as to give the appearance of 

 being much enlarged at that part, though at top and bottom of a 

 moderate size. It has also a singular way of carrying the head ; not 

 in a position nearly square, or right-angled, as in the Common 

 Goose or Swan ; but making a sharp angle with the fore part of the 

 neck, as if resting thereon. This species is now no longer a rarity, 

 as the living bird is to be seen in the possession of many collectors. 



In the Black Swan in Mr. Bullock's Museum, I observed the 

 second quills much curved at the ends. 



6.— BLACK AND WHITE GOOSE. 



Anas melanoleuca, Ind. Om. Sup. p. lxix. 



Black and White Goose, Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. p. 344. 



SIZE of a Goose. Bill not unlike that of the Wild Swan 

 extending far backwards at the base, and including the eyes, where 

 it is yellow ; the middle part red, the point and under mandible pale ; 



* See Valentyn, Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien, Amst. 1726, where it is observed that two, 

 and afterwards more, Black Swans were found in New-Holland. Two of them brought 

 alive to Batavia. This account accompanied by an engraving, representing the Lagoon, 

 with the Black Swans swimming in it ; and the catching of one by the boat's crew. Mr. 

 Bass counted full 300 swimming within the space of a quarter of a mile on one of the 

 rivers, in Port Dalrymple, Water-house Isle, in Bass's Straights, and compares the note to 

 the creaking of a rusty sign, on a windy day.— Collins's Bot. Bay. ii. p. 167. 



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