(_Cygnus atratus_)
When the old Roman poet penned the well-known line, “Rara avis in
terris, nigroque simillima cygno,”[A] he little imagined that a black
swan was actually living in the then unknown and undreamt-of Antipodes,
to be discovered in the dim and distant future by the sailors of a
little island in the far north inhabited by fair-haired barbarians of
whom he may or may not have heard.
[A] “A rare bird in the world, and most like a black swan.”
The black swan of Australia, from which the Swan River takes its name,
is not perhaps the ideal black swan of the poet, for, as a matter of
fact, it has a good deal of white in its wings, although but little
of this is visible when the wings are closed, as in the illustration.
Moreover, the general colour of the plumage is brownish black, rather
than pure black, while the beak is crimson with a white tip, and
the eyes are scarlet. From all other swans this species differs by
the curling feathers in the region of the shoulder, and the extreme
shortness of the tail. Other distinctive features are to be found in
the compressed body, the long neck, the small, gracefully carried head,
and the absence of a ridge to the beak.
The range of the black swan includes both Australia and Tasmania, where
it is found not only on the coast, but likewise on the rivers and
lakes of the interior. In the earlier days of Australian colonisation
it abounded in many parts of the country; but, unfortunately, it is
a bird by no means shy, and therefore comparatively easy to shoot,
and in consequence of this it has been incessantly and relentlessly
persecuted, even the cygnets, while still unable to fly, being hunted
among the reeds in the swamps and killed out of pure maliciousness. As
a result of this persecution the species has everywhere become scarce,
and from some parts of the country has been exterminated.
During the winter months these swans collect in small parties and
families in South Australia, and return to their breeding-places in
spring. The nest is a huge, ill-built structure, made out of coarse
materials and lined with sedge. It is generally situated in the
neighbourhood of small islands, where the parent birds can readily
collect the large amount of material required for its construction. The
clutch consists of from five to seven dirty white or pale green spotted
eggs, which are brooded with great assiduity by the female, while the
male keeps guard in the neighbourhood. The cygnets are clothed in a
grey or rufous down, and can swim and dive as soon as they are hatched.
The food of both young and adults comprises water-plants of all kinds,
as well as worms, molluscs, and small frogs and fishes.
[Illustration]
The black swan is a noisy species, more especially during the
pairing-season, when it gives vent to loud trumpetings. When doing
so, the neck is stretched out straight along the water, so that the
beak lies close to the surface. At this season the males become very
pugnacious, and fight much among themselves.
It is a beautiful sight to watch a party of these swans swimming on a
still lake or river by moonlight in large circles; but this is exceeded
when the birds mount into the air and reveal the striking contrast
formed by the white of the pinions against the sable of the rest of
the plumage. When flying, these swans stretch out their necks to the
fullest extent, and accompany the loud and regular beat of their wings
with continuous and resounding trumpetings.
The black swan bears captivity well, alike in its own country and in
Europe, being content with small rations and breeding regularly every
season.
The Australian black swan is by no means the only abnormally coloured
member of its tribe inhabiting the Southern Hemisphere, its place in
South America being taken by the black-necked swan (_C. nigricollis_),
which is a native of Chile, Argentina, and some of the other southern
countries. In this handsome species the head and neck are black, and
the remainder of the plumage white; the lores, or bare patches in front
of the eyes, and the basal portion of the beak being red. In its long
and wedge-shaped tail the black-necked swan differs from the black
species and resembles the ordinary European mute swan (_C. olor_),
from which it is structurally distinguished by the scalloped margins
of the webs of the toes. The adults of all swans, except the black and
the black-necked species, are wholly white; the smallest kind is the
coscoroba swan of South America, which is no larger than a goose, and
has been referred to a genus by itself.