BIRDS OF THE SOUTH ORKNEY ISLANDS 357 



but the Ringed Penguin is a more persistent and courageous bird, and will, when 

 enraged, return to the attack of an intruder after being repulsed several times, with 

 complete disregard for danger. These two species are the most engaging of all penguins, 

 and to watch their antics when quarrelling, love-making, attending to their young and 

 travelling between their rookeries and the sea, is a source of the greatest diversion. 



A practice which is shared exclusively by these two species is that of hauling out on 

 icebergs and detached fragments of ice at sea. Here again the Ringed Penguin will 

 choose most difficult and steep bergs on which to rest, while the Adelie is only seen on 

 low, fairly level- surfaced bergs or flat pieces of sea-ice. Almost anywhere within the 

 range of the Ringed Penguin all accessible bergs are occupied by some of the birds, or 

 bear indications of their visits. 



Pygoscelis papua (Forster), Gentoo Penguin. (Plate XII, fig. 3.) 



This bird breeds in the South Orkneys, but in very much smaller numbers than 

 either P. adeliae or P. antarctica. The Scotia Expedition estimated the population of 

 Laurie Island to be 100,000 birds (Eagle Clarke, 1906). In the large Adelie rookery in 

 EUefsen Harbour, small groups of P. papua were found nesting, the total number of 

 nests being about a thousand. Nowhere else in the South Orkneys were rookeries 

 found, and since they apparently only nest in company with P. adeliae in this locality 

 it is very improbable that any rookeries are established on Coronation Island. The only 

 birds seen round Coronation Island were in Sandefjord Bay, where on January 10 about 

 thirty birds were seen ashore near a branch of the large Ringed Penguin rookery. 



The nests in the EUefsen Harbour rookeries were under observation for several days 

 in the early part of January. These nests showed good discrimination on the part of the 

 building birds in selection of their sites, for nearly all of them were placed in some kind 

 of shelter, under the lee of large rocks or in clefts in the rocky ground. The nests of the 

 Adelies, in comparison, appeared to have been established in quite a haphazard fashion, 

 without regard to any convenience or natural advantage. 



Usually from three to about twenty nests were associated in each group of P. papua, 

 and the nearest nests of the Adelies were always several feet distant. The contrast in 

 disposition between the two species is remarkable when the birds are observed simul- 

 taneously. The Gentoo is a comparatively quiet and timid bird and when disturbed 

 usually leaves its nest after a few half-hearted attempts at biting. Compared with the 

 Adelie's liveliness and pugnacity, it is a lethargic and stolid bird. The Gentoo also goes 

 to more trouble in the building of its nest, keeps it cleaner and more orderly, and appears 

 to be more solicitous of its chicks. Each pair of parent birds keeps the young in the nest 

 until they are almost ready to fend for themselves. 



On January 4, 1933, the chicks in the EUefsen Harbour colonies were either newly 

 hatched or only a few days old, and several unhatched eggs were found. Each nest con- 

 tained two eggs or chicks. 



In the rookeries in the Palmer Archipelago, farther south, the chicks are not hatched 

 until the middle of January, while in South Georgia they are hatched in early December. 



