(COSCOROBA SWAN.)
+Cygnus coscoroba+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 512 (Paraná);
_Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 129; _iid. P. Z. S._ 1876, p. 371;
_Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 191 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 400
(Centr. Patagonia); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 36 (Buenos Ayres).
+Coscoroba Candida+, _Reichenb. Nat. Syst._ p. x.
_Description._--White; tips of the primaries black; bill coral-red;
feet dull red: whole length 40·0 inches, wing 17·5, tail 5·8.
_Female_ similar.
_Hab._ Patagonia, Chili, Argentina, and Paraguay.
This Swan is considerably smaller than the black-necked species,
and also inferior in beauty on account of its shorter neck. It is,
nevertheless, a very handsome bird, being entirely of a pure white
colour except the tips of the primaries, which are black. The beak and
legs are bright rosy red. In its habits, language, and flight it also
differs much from _Cygnus nigricollis_, and the country people call
it _Ganso_ (Goose), probably on account of its goose-like habit of
sometimes feeding away from the water, or because its flesh has the
flavour of Wild Goose. As a rule they go in small parties of five or six
individuals, but sometimes flocks numbering two or three hundred are
seen in the cold season. Their migrations are very irregular, and
sometimes they are excessively abundant in a district one year and
absent from it the next. When disturbed they utter a loud musical
trumpeting cry, in three notes, the last with a falling inflection; and
their wings being much longer proportionately than in the black-necked
species, they rise with greater ease and have a much freer and an almost
soundless flight.
Concerning their breeding-habits, Mr. Gibson observes that the nest is
usually placed on the ground at some distance from the water. It is
about a foot and a half high, made of mud and rushes; the hollow, which
is rather deep, is lined with dry grass.
The eggs are eight or nine in number; smooth, white, and rounder than
those of _Cygnus nigricollis_.