BLACK SWAN , — Cynus atratus. 
The Black Swan is now quite common in England, though in former times it 
was thought to be an impossible bird. 
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 con- 
trasting beautifully with the deep black of the plumage. It is not so elegant in its 
movements as the white Swan, and holds its neck stiffly, without the easy serpen- 
tine grace to which we are so well accustomed in our British Swans. The young 
are not unlike those of the white Swan, and are covered with a blackish grey 
down. 
It is a very prolific bird, producing two and sometimes three broods in a 
season, commencing to breed about October, and ceasing at the middle of 
January. The nest is like that of the Swan’s, and the eggs are from five to eight 
in number, of a pale green, washed with brown. 
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