iVESTS AND EGGS CA AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



loog 



theuiselvos up again with the liulp of their iUppcrs ou thu way, and 

 .make straight for one particular gangway into the sciiib, along which 

 they wa<l(lle in regular order aip to the rookerj'. In the meantime 

 a group of about equal number appears from the rookery at tho end of 

 another of tho j^aths. When they get out of tho grass on to the beach, 

 they all stop and t;ilk and look about them, sometimes for throe or 

 four minutes. They then with one consent scuttle down over the 

 stones into the water, and long lines of ripple, radiating rapidly from 

 tlieir place of departiU"e, are the only indications, that the birds are 

 speeding out to sea. The tussock-brake, whicli on Inaccessible Island 

 is perhaps foul' or five acres in extent, was alive with Penguins breeding. 

 (Tins was in the latter pai"t of October.) Tlie nests are built of tho stems 

 aiid leaves of the Sjiartina, in the space between the tussocks. They 

 ai'o two or three inches higli, with a slight depression for the eggs, and 

 about a foot in diameter. The gangways between the tussocks, along 

 which the Penguins are constantly passing, arc wet and slushy, and the 

 tangled gi-ass, the strong ammoniacal smell, and tlie deafening noise 

 continually penetrated by loud separate somids, wuicli have a startling 

 resemblance to the human voice, make a walk through the rookei-y 

 neither easy nor pleasant. 



" The Penguin is tliieldy covered with the closest felting of down and 

 feathers, except a longitudinal band, which in the female extends along 

 tho middle line of the lower part of ^the abdomen, and which, at all 

 events in the breeding season, is without feathci-s. The bird seats 

 herself almo-t upright iipon the eggs, supportc4 by the feet and the 

 stiff featliei's of the tailj the feathers of the abdomen drawn apart, and 

 the naked band directly applied to the eggs, doubtless with the object 

 of bringing them into immediate contact with the source of warmth. 

 The female and the male .sit by turns ; but the featherloss space, if 

 present, is not nearly so marked in the male. When they shift qnart.ers 

 they sidle up close, together, and the change is made so rapidly that the 

 eggs are scarcely uncovered for a moment. The j'oung, which are 

 liatched in about six weeks, are ciu-ious-looking little things, covered 

 with black down. There seems to' be little doubt that the Penguins 

 properly belong to the sea, which they inhal^it within moderate distance 

 of the sliore, and they only come to the land to breed and, to moult and 

 for the yovmg to develop svifficiently to become independent. But 

 all this takes so long that the birds are practically the greater part, of 

 their time about the shore. We have seen no reason as yet to question 

 the old notion that their presence is an indication that land is not far off." 



M 



