V"i- XX. -j Stuakt-Suthkri.and, Penf^nins. 27 



conseqiu'iitly ohtiiins \\n food, it is iiiiiMTativt- that ll\c time 

 occupied in lenrwing tlie plumage be as short as possible. Huller 

 remarks, in the ease of the Tliick-billed Penguin, that the time 

 occupied was only three days. On the other hand, Dr. Wilson 

 states twenty-one days was the time of the Emperor Penguin. 

 Long superciliarv crests occur in some merubers of the genus 

 Caiarrhiuics. The mandible is more or less feathered in Apteno- 

 ify/cs and Pvi^oscc/is, and the metatarsi are also clothed in 

 Aptoiodyles forstcri. 



Penguins, when on shore, rest on the wliole metatarsus, with 

 the bill usually pointing upwards. Their gait on land is ludicrous, 

 but often fast. A vertical position is generally preserved while 

 they endeavour to waddle along on their toes, every now and then 

 losing their bahance and regaining it by the aid of the flippers. 

 The foot cannot then be said to be exactly plantigrade, a? the 

 bird only rests on the whole foot or end of the metatarsus, but 

 moves on the toes. When submerged the wings act as paddles, 

 with alternating rotatory action, and the feet as rudders. In 

 habit the Penguin — the only bird able to swallow its food under 

 water — is carnivorous aiid marine. The usual food is small fish, 

 cuttlefish, and crustaceans, and, according to Gould, marine 

 vegetation, in the case of Eiidyptula. 



Some authors recognize as many as 23 species, and some as 

 few as 14 ; some divide the family into 8 genera, and others, again, 

 into only 3. Amongst the latter I might mention Profs. Newton 

 and Watson. Not to dwell on this point here, which I have done 

 at greater length elsewhere, I may say I am. prepared to admit 

 18 species^ and one melanistic form and also one geographical 

 sub-variety, and to class them in six genera, although I think 

 perhaps five might suffice. The single species of Megadyptes 

 could be included in Catarrhactes, save that it has twenty feathers 

 in the tail, whereas the members of Catarrhactes have only fourteen 

 or sixteen. In outward appearance this species is somewhat 

 smiilar to C. schlegeli. 



Various names, both specific and vernacular, have been applied 

 to the different varieties. The following list includes the 18 species 

 here recognized, with some of the names variously applied to 

 them : — 



F.wiiLY— SPHENISCID.E : Penguins. 



.4 ptenodytes — 2 species. 



Pygoscelis — 3 species. 



Catarrhactes — 5 species, also i sub-species. 



Megadyptes — i species. 



Eiidyptula — 3 species. 



S pheniscus — 4 species. 

 A ptenodytes. — Bill long and curved downward towards the tip ; 

 tail short, of 20 feathers, partly hidden by upper tail 

 coverts ; tarsi feathered. Antarctic Seas. 

 A. forsteri (Emperor Penguin). 



