528 PALMIPEDES. 



South America and Africa ; tliey are also frequently 

 observed on the floating masses of ice that are 

 scattered over that dreary region. Penguins are 

 utterly incapable of flight ; their paddle-like wings 

 are covered with short rigid feathers resembling 

 scales, disposed in regular order. The tarsi are 

 placed so completely at the hinder end of the body, 

 that, in resting, these birds naturally assume an 

 upright attitude ; the toes are webbed, and the 

 tarsi very short and stout, so that they are es- 

 sentially aquatic, seldom visiting the shore, except 

 during the breeding season. From the weight 

 of its. body and the density of the plumage, the 

 Penguin swims very deep in the water, the head, 

 neck, and upper part of the back only being seen 

 above the surface. Its powers of progression in 

 its proper element are truly astonishing. It bounds 

 through the sea like a porpoise, and uses its short 

 fln-like wings to assist its progress : with these it 

 stems the most turbulent waves with the greatest 

 facility, and during the severest gale descends to 

 the bottom, where it paddles about in search of 

 crustaceans, small fish, and marine vegetables, upon 

 which it feeds. A considerable portion of the 

 year is employed by these birds in providing for 

 their young, in consequence of its being necessary 

 that their progeny should acquire sufiicient vigour 

 to resist the raging element on which they are 

 destined to dwell, and which they most probably 

 never leave, until by the impulse of nature they in 

 their turn seek the land for the purpose of repro- 

 duction. Notwithstanding this care for the preser- 

 vation of the brood, heavy gales of wind frequently 

 destroy them in great numbers. From their inca- 

 pacity for running, and their total inability to fly, 

 the parent birds, when on land, are very easily 

 captured ; indeed, they offer no resistance, except a 

 smart peck with the bill. The young, until nearly 

 as large as the adult, are covered with a thick 

 coating of long down, which, as they arrive at 



