Swan

n. large white waterbird having a long neck and webbed feet

n. Cygnus, northern constellation

Swans are large water birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae.Swans usually mate for life, though "divorce" does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure. The number of eggs in each is between 3–8.The word is derived from Old English , akin to the German Schwan and Dutch zwaan, in turn derived from Indo-European root *swen (to sound, to sing), whence Latin derives sonus (sound). (Webster's New World Dictionary) Young swans are known as cygnets, from the Latin word for swan, cygnus. An adult male is a cob, from Middle English (leader of a group); an adult female is a pen (origin unknown).
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A swan is a large water bird.
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Noun
1. stately heavy-bodied aquatic bird with very long neck and usually white plumage as adult
(hypernym) aquatic bird
(hyponym) coscoroba
(member-holonym) Anatidae, family Anatidae
(part-meronym) swan's down
Verb
1. to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true; "Before God I swear I am innocent"
(synonym) affirm, verify, assert, avow, aver, swear
(hypernym) declare
(hyponym) hold
2. move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment; "The gypsies roamed the woods"; "roving vagabonds"; "the wandering Jew"; "The cattle roam across the prairie"; "the laborers drift from one town to the next"; "They rolled from town to town"
(synonym) roll, wander, stray, tramp, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, drift, vagabond
(hypernym) travel, go, move, locomote
(hyponym) maunder
(verb-group) stray, err, drift
3. sweep majestically; "Airplanes were swanning over the mountains"
(hypernym) sweep, sail

(n.)
The constellation Cygnus.
  

(n.)
Fig.: An appellation for a sweet singer, or a poet noted for grace and melody; as Shakespeare is called the swan of Avon.
  

(n.)
Any one of numerous species of large aquatic birds belonging to Cygnus, Olor, and allied genera of the subfamily Cygninae. They have a large and strong beak and a long neck, and are noted for their graceful movements when swimming. Most of the northern species are white. In literature the swan was fabled to sing a melodious song, especially at the time of its death.
  

Duck In the opening runes of the ancient Finnish epic, the Kalevala, the earth is represented as coming into being by means of a duck or teal; in other Finnish legends it is an eagle. The duck makes her nest upon the knees of Ilmatar, the great water-mother, and lays six golden eggs and a seventh of iron. When the eggs hatch, fire is enkindled within Ilmatar, which causes her to shake herself, and in doing so she shakes the eggs into the great waters.
The primeval duck is very similar in idea to kalahansa, the primeval goose of ancient Hindustan, and also the Egyptian goose and Seb "the great Cackler"; although this ancient Finnish epic preserves the ancient wisdom-teaching of the seven globes which comprise the earth planetary chain, and also on a larger field of action, the solar system itself in its various inner and outer planes, and the surrounding and comprehending universe or galaxy.

Hamsa, Hansa (Sanskrit) The mystic swan or goose; representing divine wisdom beyond the reach of men. Exoterically, a fabulous bird which, when given milk mixed with water, drank only the milk and left the water, milk standing for spirit and water for matter. Anagrammatically, hamsa
"is equal to a-ham-sa, . . . meaning 'I am he' (in English), while divided in still another way it will read 'So-ham,' 'he (is) I' -- Soham being equal to Sah, 'he,' and aham, 'I,' or 'I am he.' In this alone is contained the universal mystery, the doctrine of the identity of man's essence with god-essence, for him who understands the language of wisdom. Hence the glyph of, and the allegory about, Kalahansa (or hamsa), and the name given to Brahma neuter (later on, to the male Brahma) of 'Hansa-Vahana,' he who uses the Hansa as his vehicle. The same word may be read 'Kalaham-sa' or 'I am I' in the eternity of Time, answering to the Biblical, or rather Zoroastrian 'I am that I am" (SD 1:78).

Kalahansa or Kalahamsa (Sanskrit) The swan in eternity; in the pre-cosmogonical aspect, Kalahansa becomes Brahman or Brahma (neuter), darkness or the unknowable; and second, the swan in time and space when by analogy Kalahansa becomes Brahma (masculine). Rather than Brahma being the Hansa-vahana (the one using the swan as vehicle), it is Brahma who is Kalahansa, while Purusha, the emanation from Brahma, as one of its aspects as a creative power, is the Hansa-vahana or swan-carrier.
"The 'Swan or goose' (Hansa) is the symbol of that male or temporary deity, as he, the emanation of the primordial Ray, is made to serve as a Vahan or vehicle for that divine Ray, which otherwise could not manifest itself in the Universe, being, antiphrastically, itself an emanation of 'Darkness' -- for our human intellect, at any rate" (SD 1:80).
"The 'First Cause' had no name in the beginnings. Later it was pictured in the fancy of the thinkers as an ever invisible, mysterious Bird that dropped an Egg into Chaos, which Egg becomes the Universe. Hence Brahm was called Kalahansa, 'the swan in (Space and) Time.' He became the 'Swan of Eternity,' who lays at the beginning of each mahamanvantara a 'Golden Egg.' It typifies the great Circle, or O, itself a symbol for the Universe and its spherical bodies" (SD 1:359).