THE FISHMEN 



genous to the southern hemisphere, only two are found 

 in the Antarctic. The king penguin, not so large as the 

 emperor, is found over a wider area. Closely allied to 

 these is the smaller Pygoscelis toeniata, a gentle creature 

 distinguished by its pointed red beak and with a stouter 

 and more feathered body. It is commonly known as the 

 ''Johnny". 



Still smaller and more numerous is the AdeHe, which 

 grows to about two feet tall and weighs only twelve 

 pounds. This is the penguin with the best defined 

 "spectacles". Of all the penguins the Adelies are the 

 greatest travellers. In spring they journey five hundred 

 miles back to their Antarctic homes, and have been 

 observed nearly a thousand miles from them. Such dis- 

 tances are enormous for penguins to travel, most of the 

 way on foot. But when penguins have long distances to 

 go they conserve foot energy by turning themselves into 

 sledges, especially down gradients. They flop on their 

 stomachs and paddle themselves over the snow and ice 

 by using their flippers like oars. 



It is generally known that the male penguin makes 

 gifts of pebbles to his lady, but less well known that he 

 prefers to steal these from other birds' collections rather 

 than search for pretty ones himself. Leaning forward, 

 feathers drawn close, he tries to make himself incon- 

 spicuous and sneaks up to another penguin's wife as she 

 broods on her nest and steals a stone from under her tail. 

 If noticed by the husband before he gets to the nest he 

 fluflfs his feathers and strolls up and down with a non- 

 chalant expression, looking very innocent. 



As many as fifty thousand penguins have been counted 

 in one area, crowded on pebble-cluttered nests, only a 

 foot or so apart. Remarkable facts about the penguin are 

 as prolific as the bird itself — it would require hundreds 

 of pages of print to exhaust them — but mention must be 

 made of the fact that, while some creatures (such as the 

 bee and the ant) show uncanny skill in sex-determination, 



163 



