The SWANS (_Cygni_), from their proud looks and majestic demeanour, must ever hold a conspicuous position in the order to which they belong. Their imposing size and elegant appearance at once rivet attention, and closer examination shows that amongst Lamellirostral birds they form a sharply-defined group, easily distinguishable from the Ducks and the Geese, with which they have been sometimes associated. Their body is elongated, their neck very long, and their head moderate. Their beak is straight, of equal breadth throughout, rounded in front, and at its base naked and protuberant. The upper mandible is flatly vaulted above, and terminates anteriorly in a roundish nail. The length of the beak is pretty nearly the same as that of the head; the legs are short, and placed very far back; the middle toe is longer than the tarsus, and the hinder toe, which is small and feeble, is so much elevated that in walking it does not reach the ground; while the web connecting the three front toes is remarkably broad and complete. In the construction of the wing, the relative proportions between the bony framework and the quills is deserving of notice, the former being very long, the latter somewhat short, while the primary quills, of which the second is the longest, are scarcely longer than the secondaries and the tertiaries. The tail consists of eighteen or twenty graduated feathers. On the under surface the plumage is thick and fur-like; on the upper side, on the contrary, the feathers are broad; but everywhere, both above and below, the body is richly covered with down. With the exception of the equatorial regions of our globe, Swans are to be met with in every climate, but they principally abound in temperate and cold latitudes. In Asia and Europe three species are met with, which occasionally extend their winter visits as far as North Africa. Two of these species are likewise met with in America, together with several others that are peculiar to that continent; while at least one other very conspicuous species is an inhabitant of Australia. The extent over which these several kinds are spread is very considerable, and their migrations extend over a great distance. All the species are migratory, but by no means all the individuals belonging to each, seeing that there are many of them whose residence is within the limits of the temperate zone, that remain all the year round in the same locality, or at all events, content themselves with wandering to some place not very far remote from their usual residence.