ADELIE PENGUINS 



tried to stop the fight. This is the only construc- 

 tion I can put on their behaviour, as time after time 

 they kept running in when the two combatants 

 clinched, pushing their breasts in between them, 

 but making no attempt to fight themselves, whilst 

 their more collected appearance and smooth feathers 

 were in marked contrast to the angry attitudes of 

 the combatants. 



" The fight, which had started on the outskirts 

 of a knoll crowded with nests, soon edged away to 

 the space outside, and it was here that I (and 

 Campbell, who was with me) saw the other pen- 

 guins try to stop it. The last minute was a very 

 fierce and vindictive ' mill,' both fighting with all 

 their might, and ended in one of them trying to 

 toboggan away from his opponent ; but he was too 

 exhausted to get any pace on, so that just as he 

 got into the crowd again he was caught, and both 

 fought for a few seconds more, when the apparent 

 victor suddenly stopped and ran away. The other 

 picked himself up and made his way rapidly among 

 the nests, evidently searching for one in particular. 



" Following him, I saw him run up to a nest 

 near the place where the fight had begun. There 

 was a solitary penguin waiting by this nest, which 

 was evidently new and not yet completed, and 

 64 



