ADELIE PENGUINS 



possible spirits, chattering loudly and frolicking 

 with one another, and playfully chasing each other 

 about, occasionally indulging in a little friendly 

 sparring with their flippers. 



Arrived at length at the water's edge, almost 

 always the same procedure was gone through. The 

 object of every bird in the party seemed to be 

 to get one of the others to enter the water first. 

 They would crowd up to the very edge of the ice, 

 dodging about and trying to push one another 

 in. Sometimes those behind nearly would succeed 

 in pushing the front rank in, who then would 

 just recover themselves in time, and rushing round 

 to the rear, endeavour to turn the tables on the 

 others. Occasionally one actually would get pushed 

 in, only to turn quickly under water and bound out 

 again on to the ice like a cork shot out of a bottle. 

 Then for some time they would chase one another 

 about, seemingly bent on having a good game, each 

 bird intent on finding any excuse from being 

 the first in. Sometimes this would last a few, 

 minutes, sometimes for the better part of an hour, 

 until suddenly the whole band would change its 

 tactics, and one of the number start to run at 

 full tilt along the edge of the ice, the rest following 

 closely on his heels, until at last he would take 

 74 



