THU DUCK GENUS. 
123 
his whole family in health, by feeding them with duck when- 
ever they threatened to be out of order. 
No bird makes a more indifferent figure upon land, or a 
more beautiful one in the water, than the swan. This fine 
bird has long been rendered domestic. The wild or whistling 
swan, though so strongly resembling this in colour and form, 
is yet a different bird ; for it is very differently formed within. 
The wild swan is less than the tame almost a fourth ; for as the 
one weighs twenty pounds, the other only weighs sixteen 
pounds and three quarters. The colour of the tame swan is 
all over white; that of the wild bird is along the back and 
the tips of the wings, of ash-colour ; the tame swan is mute, 
the wild one has a sharp loud cry, particularly while Hying: 
But these are slight differences, compared to what are found 
upon dissection. The wild species is found in most of the 
northern regions, in America, and probably in the East 
Indies. 
This mute, or tame swan , is as delicate in its appetites, as 
it is elegant in its form. Its chief food is corn, bread, herbs 
growing in the water, and roots and seeds, which are found 
near the margin. It prepares a nest in some retired part of 
the bank, and chiefly where there is an islet in the stream. 
It is composed of water-plants, long grass, and sticks. The 
swan lays seven or eight eggs, white, much larger than those 
of a goose, with a hard shell. It sits near two months be- 
fore its young are excluded ; which are ash-coloured when 
they first leave the shell, and for some months after. 
All the stages of this bird’s approach to maturity are slow, 
and seem to mark its longevity. It is two months hatching; 
il year in growing to its proper size. The swan is said to 
be remarkable for its longevity. A goose has been known 
to live an hundred years; and the swan, from its superior 
«ize, and from its harder, firmer flesh, may naturally be sup- 
posed to live still longer. 
rile goose , in its domestic state, exhibits a variety of co- 
lours. The wild goose, or grey lag , always retains the same 
marks : the whole upper part is ash-coloured ; the breast and 
bell y are of a dirty white ; the bill is narrow at the base, and 
at the tip it is black ; the legs are of a saffron colour, and 
*he claws black. It frequently weighs about ten pounds. 
'I'he wild goose is supposed to breed in the northern parts 
°i Europe ; and, in the beginning of winter, to descend into 
"’ore temperate regions. If they come to the ground by day, 
they range themselves in a line, like cranes; and seem rather 
to have descended for rest, than for other refreshment. 
^ hen they have sat in this manner for an hour or two, we 
have heard one of them, with a loud long note, sound -> 'r ! »d 
