Swan

MFA Acc. #: 51.315

Description

A large, long-necked water bird of the subfamily Anserinae. Swans native to the Northern Hemisphere are white and those native to the Southern Hemisphere are black or patterned. Swan quills have been used as writing pens and as ferrules for artist brushes.

Synonyms and Related Terms

svane (Dan.); Schwäne (Deut.); cisne (Esp., Port.); cygne (Fr.); cigno(It.); zwanen (Ned.); ³abêdz (Pol.);

Additional Images

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  MFA Acc. #: 21.11772.411

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  Mute swans Cygnet olor

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  Black swans Cygnet atratus

Authority

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan (Accessed Nov. 9, 2005)