. The sportsman's British bird book . om both the whooper andBewicks swans the present speciesis distinguishable at a glance bythe presence of the large fleshy•black knob or berry surmount-ing the root of the beak. Theblack extends downwards andbackwards as far as the eye, butthe rest of the beak is reddishorange, except the tip and a ringround each of the nostrils, whichare black, as are also the legs andtoes. Cygnets — save for theabove-mentioned occasional exceptions—are sooty grey above and palerbeneath, with no knob on the beak, which, like the legs and toes, islead-coloured. Ash-grey and
. The sportsman's British bird book . om both the whooper andBewicks swans the present speciesis distinguishable at a glance bythe presence of the large fleshy•black knob or berry surmount-ing the root of the beak. Theblack extends downwards andbackwards as far as the eye, butthe rest of the beak is reddishorange, except the tip and a ringround each of the nostrils, whichare black, as are also the legs andtoes. Cygnets — save for theabove-mentioned occasional exceptions—are sooty grey above and palerbeneath, with no knob on the beak, which, like the legs and toes, islead-coloured. Ash-grey and paler below is the colour of the newlyhatched chick. From 4^ to 5 feet is the length of the adult bird. The mute swan is, however, not distinguished solely by externalcharacters, for its windpipe does not enter a hollow in the breast-bone,as is the case in the two preceding species ; this feature accounting forthe lack of voice in the present bird. Another distinctive feature is tobe found in the pale green colour of the ML lli SWAN. GREY LAG GOOSE 271 In the British Isles the mute swan exists solely as a domesticatedbird, although the date of its introduction is unknown. The largestswannery in the United Kingdom is the one at Abbotsbury, inDorchester, belonging to the Earl of Ilchester, where the birds livechiefly on the Fleet estuary, but not unfrequently visit the open the wild state the present species breeds in southern Scandinavia,Germany, central and southern Russia, the lower Danubian princi- , 9- UEWICks. IOLISH, MUTE, S- i^ifii
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