CHAP. III.] BAHIA TO THE CAPE. 161 



There seems to be little doubt that penguins properly belong- 

 to the sea, which they inhabit within moderate distances of the 

 shore, and they only come to the land to breed and moult, and 

 for the young to develoyj sufficiently to become independent. 

 But all this takes so long that the birds are practically the 

 greater part of their time about the shore. We have seen no 

 reason as yet to question the old notion that their presence is 

 an indication that land is not very far oif. 



Eudyptes clirysocoma is the only species found in the Tristan 

 d'Acunha group. The males and females are of equal size, but 

 the males may be readily distinguished by their stouter beaks. 

 From the middle of April till the last week in July there are 

 no penguins on Inaccessible Island. In the end of July the 

 males begin to come ashore, at first in twos and threes, and then 

 in larger numbers, all fat, and in the best plumage and condi- 

 tion. They lie lazily about the shore for a day or two, and then 

 begin to prepare the nests. The females arrive in the middle 

 of August, and repair at once to the tussock-brake. A fortnight 

 later they lay two, rarely three, eggs, pale-blue, very round in 

 shape, and about the size of a turkey's Qgg. It is singular that 

 one of the two eggs is almost constantly considerably larger 

 than the other. The young are hatched in six weeks. One or 

 other of the old birds now spends most of its time at sea, fish- 

 ing, and the young are fed, as in most sea-birds, from the crop 

 of the parents. In December young and old leave the land, and 

 remain at sea for about a fortnight, after which the moulting 

 season commences. They now spread themselves along the 

 shore and about the cliifs, often climbing, in their uncouth way, 

 into places which one would have imagined inaccessible to them. 

 Early in April they all take their departure. The Stoltenhoffs 

 witnessed this exodus on two occasions, and they say that on 

 both it took place in a single night. In the evening the pen- 

 guins were with them, in the morning they were gone. 



There are three species of albatross on Inaccessible Island : 



