THE SEA AND THE DESERT 189 



Presenting an antithesis to these birds is another 

 group characteristic of the southern seas, the pen- 

 guins, birds without the power of flight. Who- 

 ever has been so fortunate as to see them, not 

 on shore, but in their own element, forms at 

 once an entirely new conception of swimming. 

 The penguins do not swim ; they fly through 

 the water. For this purpose the feet are not 

 used, and no paddling, or swimming in duck 

 fashion takes place. With their feet straight 

 behind them and close together, used only as 

 a rudder, the penguins perform every evolution 

 (assisted by their transformed wings, which re- 

 semble closely the flippers of the seal) that the 

 swallow performs over a grass meadow or pond, 



The motion is as rapid, the evolutions are as 

 precise; the quick turning of the birds flying 

 through the water in pursuit of small fish can 

 only be compared to the characteristic motion of 

 swallows in pursuit of minute insect prey. 



For those who are unable to make the long 

 journey necessary to see penguins in their native 

 haunts, most zoological gardens have glass tanks, 

 often of great size, in which at stated times tiny 

 fish are liberated. One or two penguins are then 

 allowed to enter the water. There, as in an 

 aquarium, one may see everything that has been 

 described. Not the least remarkable fact is that 

 penguins, unlike diving birds in general, do not 



