Voi.xxvii.-i 1.BACU, The Birds of Victoria. 145 



1910 J > I ^ •> 



flowering plants, not to mention non-flowering plants. Again, 

 while it is impossible to talk of native plants popularly, because 

 they have no common names, that does not apply to birds, 

 for bird-lovers have given a simple name to each bird, so that 

 even children can talk definitely and exactly about the different 

 kinds. This is a great advantage. Again, as birds are living, 

 moving, loving, and beautiful animals, they have always been 

 favourite objects of study, and so we know more about them 

 than about any other division of the animal kingdom. Thus 

 you will, I hope, feel that you know far more about the subject 

 than you at first thought. 



In the sixth .order — Podicipediformes — come the divers or 

 grebes, known to all dwellers by streams or lakes. They are 

 expert divers, and are active in the water, but are '' absurd " 

 on land. Their legs are set so far back that they can hardly 

 walk. Their wings are so small that they can barely fly, and 

 yet they have spread almost the world over. The Great Crested 

 or Tippet Grebe of Victoria is identical with the Great Crested 

 Grebe of England. So quick are these birds in the water that 

 the story used to be told that they waited for the flash of the 

 cap, and then dived before the bullet could reach them. The 

 two small grebes are better known as " dabchicks." 



In the next order, Sphenisciformes, come those remarkable birds, 

 penguins. As so much has been said about penguins by Lieutenant 

 Shackleton's party, they have caught the popular fancy, and 

 people are much interested • in them. Many Victorians do 

 not know that three of these birds are found on the Victorian 

 coast. It was one of the sights of the last Summer School 

 at Portsea to sit on one of the balconies and watch the penguins 

 chasing their prey in the clear waters in front. Their wings are 

 paddles, being flattened and devoid of quills. The wings are 

 not folded, but are carried hanging awkwardly at the side. 

 When Peary presented the North Pole to the American Presi- 

 dent, an illustrated paper came out with an interesiing cartoon, 

 which showed the American eagle sitting on the North Pole 

 and addressing an audience of penguins. One thing is un- 

 fortunate about this — penguins are unknown in the Northern 

 Hemisphere. Indeed, they support the geographer in his con- 

 tention that, while the Pacific is a very ancient ocean, the 

 Atlantic Ocean has been formed much more recently, for 

 penguins are found up the Pacific even to the Equator, but 

 have not spread into the Atlantic Ocean beyond South Africa. 



In order eight — Procellariiformes — ocean birds are placed. 

 These birds are true ocean wanderers, and do not come near land 

 -except to breed. There are three main groups of these — storm- 

 petrels C Mother Carey chickens "), petrels (including the 

 Mutton-bird), and the albatrosses. All have read about the 



