DOMESTIC LIFE 



When the chicks are small they are kept com- 

 pletely covered by the parent who sits on the nest. 

 They grow, however, at an enormous rate, gobbling 

 vast quantities of food as it is brought to them, 

 their elastic/bellies seeming to have no limit to their 

 capacity (Fig. 59) ; indeed, when standing, they 

 rest on a sort of tripod, formed by the protuberant 

 belly in front and the two feet behind. 



I weighed a chick at intervals for some time, and 

 this was the astonishing result : 



To see an Adelie chick of a fortnight's growth 

 trying to get itself covered by its mother is a most 

 ludicrous sight. The most it can hope for is to get 

 its head under cover, the rest of its body being 

 exposed to the air^; but the downy coat of the chick 

 is close and warm, and suffices in all weathers to 

 protect it from the cold. Fig. 60 illustrates what 



95 



