B. Swans.
Nostrils pierced in the middle of the bill; neck very long. Residents of the water, on which they swim with much ease and gracefulness.
cygnus, Lin. &c. Wild, Whistling, or Hoojzing Swan, Prov. .Hooper, Elk, &c. Bill semi-cylindrical and black ; cere yellow ; body white; head and nape very slightly tinted with yellowish ; iris brown ; legs and feet black. The female is ; and the young are grey. Length of the mature male from four feet five, to four feet nine inches; extent of wing six feet three inches ; and weight from fifteen to twenty-five pounds. The difference in respect of dimension, of the structure of the bill, of the singular flexures of the trachea, and of the note, at once discriminate this from the next species, al though Bunn and some others would represent them as identical.
The whistling swan inhabits Europe, Asia, and Ameri ca, affecting chiefly the northern regions of the globe, and appearing in small flocks, of eight or ten, on the coasts of England, France, &c. in hard winters: but, on the ap proach of spring, they quit their southern stations, and again retire northward, to breed. A few, however, drop short, and perform that office by the way, halting in the Hebrides, the Shetland or Orkney islands, &c. In the two latter, and in the Faroe islands, large flocks of them annually arrive in October, and pass the winter about the numerous fresh water lakes. Early in spring, they take their departure for the peaceful arctic tracts, where they may incubate and rear their young without molestation. Great bodies of them occur on the large rivers and lakes, near Hudson's Bay, and those of Kamtschatka, Lapland, and Iceland. They are said to resort to the last mention ed island in flocks, of about a hundred at a time, in spring, and also to pour in on it from the north, in nearly the same manner, on their way south, toward the close of au tumn, flying very high in the air, and in such compact ar ray, that the bill of the one seems to touch the tail of the other. The young which are bred there, remain through out the first year, and, in August, when they lose their feathers, and are incapable of efficient flight, the natives kill them with clubs, or snoot and hunt them down with dogs, on account of their flesh, which is much prized. Notwithstanding their size, these birds, when in full fea ther, arc so extremely swift, that they are shot with great difficulty ; and it is frequently necessary to aim ten or twelve feet before the bill, when they are flying under a brisk gale, their rate of motion being then about a hun dred miles an hour; but, when they fly across the wind, or against it, their progress is inconsiderable. In their flight, they emit a note, which has been expressed by whoogh, whoogh, and which is very loud, hoarse, and shrill, but not disagreeable, when heard aloft in the air, and modulated by the breeze. The Icelanders oddly enough compare it to
the sound of the violin; and the ancients have unaccount ably celebrated its tuneful harmony, which Lucian had the honesty to treat with his usual ridicule. The explanations which some modern authors have hazarded of the classi cal allusion. to the musical strains of the swan, are more ingenious than satisfactory. We arc equally at a loss to account for the poetical fiction which has peopled the wa ters of the Po and the Cayster with this family of birds. At the setting in of frosty weather, wild swans are said to congregate in great numbers, and,. thus united, to make every effort to prevent the water from freezing, by con stantly stirring and dashing it with their extended wings. The wild swan has been styled "the peaceful monarch of the lake," because, conscious of his superior strength, he fears no enemy, meeting even the eagle in fierce encoun ter, and driving off every troublesome visitor by the pow erful stroke of his wing, at the same time that he preys on none of the feathered tribes. The physical force with which he deals his blows may have been exaggerated; but a stroke of his wing has sometimes knocked a young man down. The food of this species consists of aquatic herbage, and the roots and seeds of water plants, of the myriads of insects which skim or float on the surface of the stream, and occasionally of the slimy inhabitants of its bosom. The female makes her nest of the withered leaves and stalks of reeds and rushes, and lays from four to six or seven thick-shelled ferruginous coloured eggs, with some white blotches about the middle, as if artifi cially stained, and which are hatched in six weeks. The flesh of the full-grown bird, though relished in some northern countries, is black, hard, and tough; but that of the young is said to be sufficiently palatable, and the eggs are reckoned a delicate article of food. The Icelanders, Kamtschadales, &c. dress the skins with the down on them, sew them together, and make them up into various sorts of garments. The American Indians have re course to the same expedient for clothing themselves, and sometimes weave the down, as barbers do the cawls for wigs, and then manufacture it into ornamental dresses • for the women of rank, while the larger feathers are form ed into caps and plumes, to decorate the heads of their chieftains and warriors. They likewise gather the fea thers and down in large quantities, and barter or sell them to the inhabitants of more civilized nations.