232 
AMERICAN SWAN. 
medial, elliptical, direct, near the ridge ; nasal groove elliptical. Lowei 
mandible flattened, slightly recurved : the angle long and rather narrow, 
the edges parallel, the tip truncate, the unguis somewhat triangular. 
Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Neck very long and slender. 
Body very large. Feet short, stout, placed a little behind the centre of the 
body ; tibia bare for an inch and a half, and reticulated ; tarsus short, 
moderately compressed, reticulated all round with angular scales, of which 
the anterior are larger ; hind toe very small, scutellate above, granulate 
beneath ; anterior toes longer than the tarsus, the outer a little shorter than 
the third, all reticulate above as far as the second joint, scutellate in the 
rest of their extent, connected by webs of which the margin is entire, the 
outer with a thick margin, the inner with a broader two-lobed margin. 
Claws of moderate size, arched, strong, rather acute, that of the middle toe 
with the inner edge dilated. 
Plumage full, compact above, blended beneath ; feathers of the head and 
neck softer, small, ovate, rounded. Wings ample, convex ; the first quill 
eight-twelfths of an inch shorter than the second, which is longest, but 
scarcely exceeds the third ; the first, second, and third cut out on the inner 
web. Secondaries long, broad, and rounded. Tail very short, much 
rounded, of twenty broad rounded feathers, of which the lateral are an inch 
and nine-twelfths shorter than the middle. The bill and the bare space on 
the fore part of the head black, with an orange oblong patch from the 
anterior angle of the eye ; sides of lower mandible and inside of mouth 
yellowish flesh-colour. Iris brown ; feet and claws black. The plumage 
is entirely pure white. 
Length to end of tail 53 inches, to end of wings 504, to end of claws 58 ; 
extent of wings 84 ; bill along the ridge 4, from the tip to the eye 4 T 8 2 ; 
wing from flexure 22^ ; tail 7i ; tarsus 4 r 9 2 ; hind toe yb, its claw ; se- 
cond toe 3 t 8 2, its claw ; third toe T 9 2 , its claw \\ ; fourth toe 4 T 8 2 ; its 
claw T V Weight 19J lbs. Another individual weighed only 14 lbs. 
Individuals of both sexes have the upper part of the head and a portion 
of the neck tinged with brownish-red. 
The female is somewhat smaller, but otherwise similar. 
The young in its first plumage is of a uniform light bluish-grey, paler 
beneath, the fore and upper parts of the head tinged with red, the bill red- 
dish flesh-colour, dusky at the point ; the spaces between the eye and the 
bill, and between its basal angles, covered with minute feathers, which 
entirely disappear in the adult. The feet are dull yellowish flesh-colour. 
An adult female, procured at Philadelphia. The edges of the upper 
mandible are soft, with about 40 transverse lamellae, which do not project 
beyond the margin ; those of the lower with about 60 marginal lamellae, the 
