THE BLACK SWAN. 
599 
a bird as either of the preceding species, sitting on the water more like a goose than a Swan, 
and haying been frequently mistaken for the wild goose, especially when on the wing. When 
flying, they generally go in a line. The length of this bird is only four feet. 
Another species, the Polish, or Immutable Swan, derives its name of immutable from 
the fact that the young are white like their parents, and do not pass through the gray stage 
of plumage. It may be readily distinguished by the orange color, which covers almost the 
whole of the beak, and the shape and position of the nostrils, which are entirely surrounded 
by the orange hue. There is a slight tubercle at the base of the beak. 
However emblematical of ornithological fiction a Black Swan might have been in 
ancient times, it is now almost as familiar to everybody as any of the white species. 
BLACK SWAN. — Cygnus atratus. 
This fine bird comes from Australia, where it was first discovered in 1698. It is a striking 
and handsome bird, the blood -red bill and the white primaries contrasting beautifully with 
the deep black of the pi umage. It is not so elegant in its movements as the white Swan, and 
holds its neck stiffly, without the easy serpentine grace to which people are so well accustomed 
in other Swans. The young are not unlike those of the white Swan, and are covered with a 
blackish-gray down. Dr. Bennett mentions that in the Australian Museum is preserved a 
white or albino specimen with pink eyes. 
It is a very prolific bird, producing two and sometimes three broods in a season, com- 
mencing to breed about October, and ceasing at the middle of January. The nest is like that 
of the Swan, and the eggs are from five to eight in number, of a pale green, washed with 
brown. These birds are found in the southern district of Australia and Jamaica, and are 
