THE BRANT. Barnacle Goose--Brent Goose. _Anas Bernicla_, Wils. _Specific Character._--Bill black; head and neck all round black; a patch on the sides of the neck white; upper parts brownish-grey, the feathers margined with light greyish-brown; quills and primary coverts greyish-black; fore part of breast light brownish-grey, the feathers terminally margined with greyish-white; abdomen and lower tail-coverts white; sides grey; feathers rather broadly tipped with white. Length two feet; wing fourteen inches and a half. Female rather smaller. The brant is not fond of the fresh lakes and streams, but prefers the ocean and its contiguous bays and lagoons; it is far more abundant along the sea-coast than upon the western waters, and in fact I am not aware that I have ever killed one in the inland States. It responds to its peculiar note, stools well, and is often killed in great numbers on the South Bay of Long Island. THE SWAN. _Genus Cygnus_, Meyer. _Generic Distinctions._--Bill longer than the head, higher than broad at the base, depressed and a little widened towards the end; upper mandible, rounded, with the dorsal line sloping; lower mandible flattened, with the angle very long, and rather narrow; nostrils placed near the ridge; head of moderate size, oblong, compressed; neck extremely long and slender; body very large, compact, depressed; feet short, stout, placed a little behind the centre of the body; tarsi short; wings long, broad; tail very short, graduated. THE WHITE SWAN. American Swan. _Cygnus Americanus_, Aud. _Specific Character._--Plumage, pure white; bill and feet black; length of the specimen before us, four feet; wing twenty-one and a half inches. These magnificent birds, the most majestic of the game-birds of our continent, are rarely shot to the northward and eastward of Chesapeake bay, but are much more abundant in the far West--even to and beyond the Rocky Mountains. FRESH-WATER DUCKS. _Genus Anas_, Linn. _Generic Distinctions._--Bill higher than broad at the base, widening towards the end, and about the same length as the head; the upper mandible with a slight nail at the end; neck rather long; body full; wings moderate, pointed; feet short, stout, and placed behind the centre of the body; walks with a waddling gait; hind toe furnished with a narrow membrane. MALLARD. Green Head, English Duck, Grey Duck (female), the Duck, the Wild Duck. _Anas Boschas_, Wils.