280 
POPULAE HISTOEY OF BIEDS. 
The flesh of both young and old is lean and black, yet 
very good meat, tasting neither fishy nor any way unsavoury. 
Their tongues are large, having a large knob of fat at the 
root, which is an excellent bit"^.'^ 
The Swans are at once known by their long necks and 
graceful form in the water; though, when on land, their 
shuffling walk and the constrained position of the neck and 
wings give them a very awkward appearance when walking. 
The usual colour of swans, and there are several species, is 
white : that white is their colour has passed into a proverb. 
In Chili, however, there is a species with a black neck 
[Cygnus nigricoUis), which has been for some time a much- 
admired denizen of the Zoological Gardens. In Australia, 
that country of contraries, a river and a settlement take 
their name from swans, of a uniform black colour, excepting 
on the beak, which is bright red with a white band, forming 
a pretty contrast. Our early voyagers were not a little sur- 
prised at finding commonly in Australia what the Eoman 
poet, in speaking of European lands, alludes to as ^^rara 
avis in terris."'^ 
Every child now, thanks to zoological gardens, is familiar 
with the Black Swan of Australia [Cygmts atraius). Its 
^ New Voyage round the World, p. 71. 
