8 



BIRD NEWS 



the throne and blot out the reign 

 of such a sovereign. 



I was on deck enjoying the quiet 

 and beauty of the white night when 

 I saw an eniperor-penguin on a piece 

 of snow not two hundred yards from 

 the ship. Anxious to make a draw- 

 ing of the bird, I went aft and let 

 the mate know. He ordered out a 

 boat. 



The jjenguin was standing on a 

 I'ound piece of ice obout fifty yards 

 in diameter. We rowed up to a sort 

 of hummock on one side, put two 

 men behind the hummock, and then 

 rowed round to the other side, where 

 three of us landed. Then all five, 

 advancing, closed in on the pen- 

 guin. 



He got on the mound of snow as 

 we approachetd, but only looked 

 slightly anxious as we drew near. 

 Then, thinking his position was dan- 

 gerous, he tried to get away. He 

 slid down the snow on his breast, 

 and paddled away with his flippers 

 and feet. 



One of the party made a success- 

 ful rush over the hard pieec of snow, 

 and fell on the bird, and embraced 

 it. The penguin looked quite shocked 

 and threw him off with a hitch of 

 the shoulders. Then it got up, stood 

 on its feet, and looked at us. When 

 we got near it again five of us made 

 a rush at it. The boatswain got in 

 first, and scragged it with Iioth 

 l)oth hands around its neck. The 

 two rolled over together on the 

 snow. The penguin got its neck free 

 and began to peck with its beak at 

 the boatswain's head, but missed its 

 aim — fortunately for him. 



Its strength astonished us. One 

 man held its neck, two got hold of 

 its flippers, and two more held its 

 legs. Using all their strength, the 

 men could hardly keep hold. The 

 bird did not seem the least flun-ied 

 nor put out; merely moved its flip- 



pers slowly, and drew up and ex- 

 tended its short legs, but that nearly 

 twisted our arms off. 



It was, too diflScult a task to carry 

 the penguin to the boat, so we strap- 

 I)ed it round the middle, with flip- 

 pers bound to its sides. We used 

 the boatswain's belt, which was a 

 broad affaii- with a big brass buckle, 

 and we hauled it until the penguin 

 collapsed like a Gladstone bag. With 

 another belt we tied the legs, stood 

 the bird up and drew a long sigh of 

 relief. 



So did the penguin — a long 

 breath from the bottom of his chest. 

 The buckle burst, and the bird be- 

 gan to hobble away on its still tied 

 legs. It actually hobbled with dig- 

 nity. 



Then we all sat on it again with- 

 out ceremony, for we were angry, 

 and the penguin remained calmly 

 dignified'. We fastened him with a 

 whole line from bill to toes, like a 

 roll of beef, and carried him to the 

 boat. He freed one flipper, just to 

 show what he could do, but made 

 no other effort to escape. 



On deck the penguin preserved a 

 sphinx-like dignity under very novel 

 and trying conditions. All the crew 

 stood about and marveled at him, 

 but he took no notice of them. Fan- 

 ny, the shop's dog, tried to play 

 with him, and danced about him. At 

 first the penguin paid no attention; 

 then the hard beak came out with a 

 flash. Off went Fanny, in no end of 

 a hurry, and never came near again 



GOOD WISHES. 



Mr. David Bruce, the well-known 

 fancier of Montreal, Canada, writes: 

 "I wish you all success with your 

 liaper and club." We expect to short- 

 ly publish a paper by Mr. Bruce on 

 the "Scotch Fancy," the bird of the 

 circle. This breed is a choice favor- 

 ite and many excellent specimens 

 come from the blrdroom of Mr. Bruce. 



