BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 209 



a bird. Thud, thud, you hear from the men behind as thej' kick 

 the birds right and left off the nests ; and so you go on for a bit — 

 thump and smash, whack, thud, ' Caa, caa, urr, urr,' and the 

 path behind you is strewed with the dead and dying and bleeding. 

 But you make miserably slow progress, and, woi-ried to death, 

 at last resort to the expedient of stampeding as far as your breath 

 will cany you. You put down your head and make a rush through 

 the grass, treading on old and young haphazard, and rushing on 

 before they have time to bite. 



" The air is close in the rookery, and the sun hot above; and, 

 out of breath and running with perspiration, you come across a 

 mass of rock fallen from the cliff above, and sticking up in the 

 rookery; this you hail as ' a city of refuge.' You hammer off it 

 hurriedly half a dozen Penguins who are sunning themselves 

 there and are on the look-out, and, mounting on the top, take out 

 your handkerchief to wipe off the perspiration, and rest awhile, 

 and see in what direction 3'ou have been going, how far you have 

 got, and in what direction you are to make the next plunge. 

 Then when you are refreshed you make another rush, and so on. 



" If you stand quite still, so long as your foot is not actually on 

 the top of a nest of eggs or young, the Penguins soon cease bitmg 

 at you and yelling. I always adopted the stampede method in 

 rookeries, but the men usually preferred to have their revenge, 

 and fought their way every foot. 



" Of course, it is horribly cruel thus to kill whole families of 

 innocent birds ; but it is absolutely necessary. One must cross the 

 rookeries in order to explore the island at all, and collect the plants 

 or survey the coast from the heights." 



*LITTLE PENGUIN 



(Eudyptula minor, Forst.) 



Male. — Upper surface varies from slate-blue to bright slate- 

 blue, each feather having a brownish-grey base and black shaft- 

 streak; chin, throat, fore-neck, and rest of the under surface 

 silvery-white ; the feathers on the throat and fore-neck have 

 brownish bases, whilst those on the chin, breast, and lower parts 

 are pure white ; flippers greyish-black, narrowly edged with white 

 on the inner margin ; tail white, but very seldom found that colour; 

 iris yellowish or silver-grey, acording to the light; bill black; 

 legs and feet white, tinged with pink. Dimensions in mm. : — 

 Length, 425; bill, 39; wing, 75; tarsus, 19. 



Female. — Similar in colouration, but less bulky in build. 

 Dimensions in mm. : — Length, 400 ; bill, 35 ; wing, 65 ; tarsus, 18. 



Young. — "Down on upper surface grey and fluffy; on under 

 surface dull white and somewhat close in texture " (J. E. 

 M'Clymont). 



Nest. — When a short burrow is not scraped out beneath tus- 



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