Official ©rQiiu of the ^xistralasiau ©rnithologists' Buion. 



Birds of a. feather." 



Vol. II.] 1ST JULY, 1902. [Part i. 



Penguins. 



By Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S., Christchurch, N.Z. 



The name Penguin was originally given by Spanish sailors to 

 the short-winged northern Auks and Divers from the quantity 

 of fat found on them {peng^ugo) ; and on the discovery of the 

 Southern Ocean the same name was employed for the somewhat 

 similar birds found there. Subsequently the name was dropped 

 for the northern birds and retained for the southern ones only. 



Penguins are evidently adapted for an aquatic life. They 

 have lost their power of flight by this adaptation, and not by 

 degeneration. The feathers of the wings and body are reduced 

 to small dimensions, almost like scales, which form a continuous 

 covering all over the body ; and the only tolerably long feathers 

 with quills are in the tail, or form plumes on the head. There 

 are no quill feathers in the wing. 



Of all birds they are the most expert divers, using their wings 

 for locomotion under water, and keeping their feet stretched 

 out straight behind them. In fact, they fly through the water 

 as other birds fly through the air ; only as the bird is lighter 

 than the water, the principal stroke of its wings must be directed 

 upwards to keep it under the surface. For this purpose the 

 muscles which give the up stroke to the wing are more developed 

 than in other birds, with a consequent expansion of the scapula, 

 to which some of these muscles are attached. As the wing is 

 reduced to a flipper, the bones have also become modified, and 

 are broader and flatter than in other birds ; and the first digit 

 has become fused to the second. These modifications turn the 

 wing into a strong swimming paddle. So rapid is their flight 

 under water that the Crested Penguins {Catarrhactes) and 

 the Johnnies {Pygoscelis) spring out of the water, with their 

 wings close to their sides, and take a long leap through the air 

 like porpoises. 



Penguins are the only birds which can swallow their food 

 under water ; but they have not developed any structural modi- 

 fication to enable them to do this. And it is only constant 

 practice, not any special adaptation, which enables them to 



