A SHORT NOTE ON EMPEROR 

 PENGUINS* 



The Emperor is by far the largest of all penguins, 

 weighing between 80 and 90 lbs. It is also a 

 particularly handsome and graceful bird. By 

 nature it seems much like the Ad^lie, except that 

 its general demeanour is extremely dignified, and 

 its gait, as it approaches you over the snow, slow 

 and deliberate. 



The most marked difference in the habits of the 

 Ad^lie and the Emperor lies in the respective 

 seasons at which each lays and incubates its eggs. 

 Unlike the Ad^lie, which, as we have seen, choses 

 the warmest and lightest months of the year for the 

 rearing of its young, the Emperor performs this duty 

 in the darkest, coldest, and most tempestuous time. 

 The only reason that has been suggested for this cus- 

 tom is that many months must pass before the chicks 

 are fully fledged. Were they hatched in December 

 (midsummer) as are Ad^lies, autumn would find 



• Aptenodytes forsteri. 

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