62 EDWARD A. WILSON. 



left there. This albino was entirely white except for the golden superciliary plumes, 

 which were well developed. It now forms part of the British Museum collection. 



To recapitulate the life history of this penguin, it appears that in January the 

 birds begin to arrive at the island, and continue to arrive till the end of March. The 

 moult of the adults is in progress throughout February and March, each bird spending 

 the three weeks necessary for the process on shore, fasting. From March to September 

 presumably the birds remain at sea. In September they come again to land in numbers 

 and prepare to nest. In September or October a single egg is laid in each nest, and 

 the young are hatched out at the end of November. These remain on shore from 

 December to the end of February, when, having shed their downy plumage, they take 

 to the water and leave the coast clear for the moulting adults. 



MEGADYPTES ANTIPODUM. 



The Great Penguin. 

 (Plate XL, Fig. 3.) 

 Catarrliactes antipodes, Hombr. et Jacq., Ann. Sci. Nat. (2), xvi. (1841), p. 320. 



Megailyptes antipodiim, Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., sxvl. (1898), p. 044 ; Sharpe, Rep. 'Southern 

 Cross ' Coll. (1902), p. 138, ihique citata. 



Material in the ' Discovery's ' Collection. 

 (rt), ad. sk. March 24, 1901. Laurie Harbour. Auckland Islands. 

 Colouring of the soft parts (see Birds, Plate XI., Fig. 3) : — 



Upper bill, brick red, almost throughout ; some small amount of white showing at the 



junction of the plates. 

 Lower bill, terminal quarter, brick red ; the rest pure white, except for a narrow broken 



line of brick red dots which run along and close to the cutting edge on each side. 

 Iris, bright yellow. 

 Eyelids, piuk. 

 Legs and feet, flesh piuk dorsally except the toe tips, which are black dorsally all round 



the claws. The sole of the feet wholly black. 

 Claws, dark brown. 



We had but little opportunity of studying this bird, but two were caught in Laurie 

 Harbour, just moulted, on March 24th by Dr. Souter, the surgeon on board the second 

 relief ship ' Terra Nova.' The head of one of these in its new plumage, not yet quite 

 completely developed, is figured (Plate XL, Fig. 3). As we passed the east coast, 

 we saw in the distance, on Ewing Island, a scattered rookery of penguins on the low 

 rocky shore, but we were too far away to be certain of the species even with glasses. 

 The bird, however, is known to breed there, but it breeds always in small companies, 

 and does not form large rookeries as do the other Penguins. The specimen obtained is 

 interesting chieHy on account of the stage of moult which it exemplifies. As exhibiting 

 a definite stage between Aptenodytes and Catarrhactes it has been mentioned above 

 (see p. 61) in connection with the development of yellow or orange pigment in the 

 feathers of the superciliary region and the chin. 



