98 
POLISH SWAN. 
under this name, and we think, considered by Mr. 
Yarrell as identical with it. The Polish Swan is a 
large species, measuring fifty-seven inches in length ; 
tho plumage at all ages is pure white, which 'in 
fact was the circumstance which first directed at- 
tention to the bird ; the bill is reddish orange, that 
colour completely surrounding the nostrils ; the nail, 
lateral margins, and base, with the space to the eye, 
are black, and even in a male, known to be eight 
or nine years old, the tubercle is extremely small ; 
feet and legs slate grey ; the trachea is without 
the sternal convolutions. 
Following the birds we have now described, we 
place the Typical Ducks, or tho “ River Ducks,” 
as they arc termed by Swainson. In these we 
have continued the easy or ready domestication, 
as particularly observed in the tame duck and its 
varieties, springing originally from a wild race still 
existing ; all the genera also, at least all that have 
been tried, take at once almost with confinement, 
and breed readily in that condition. In habits they 
are fluviatile or palustrine, most of them not com- 
monly frequenting the sea; and although they pos- 
sess great activity on the waters, swimming with 
ease, and diving to avoid danger, they do not 
dive in search of food, or live so almost exclu- 
sively on that element as the Fuligulinte. The bill 
and tongue are formed upon a plan to search into 
soft mud, among the roots of aquatic plants, and 
under the grassy margins of the lakes and rivers, 
