CHAPTER X 



IN WINTER QUARTERS: MODERN STYLE 



Monday, May 15. — The wind has been strong from the 

 north all day — about 30 miles an hour. A bank of stratus 

 cloud about 6000 or 7000 feet (measured by Erebus) has been 

 passing rapidly overhead toivards the north; it is nothing new 

 to find the overlying layers of air moving in opposite directions, 

 but it is strange that the phenomenon is so persistent. Simpson 

 has frequently remarked as a great feature of weather conditions 

 here the seeming reluctance of the air to ' mix ' — the fact seems 

 to be the explanation of many curious fluctuations of temperature. 



Went for a short walk, but it was not pleasant. Wilson 

 gave an interesting lecture on penguins. Ele explained the primi- 

 tive characteristics in the arrangement of feathers on wings and 

 body, the absence of primaries and secondaries or bare tracts; 

 the modification of the muscles of the wings and in the structure 

 of the feet (the metatarsal joint). He pointed out (and the 

 subsequent discussion seemed to support him) that these birds 

 probably branched at a very early stage of bird life — coming 

 pretty directly from the lizard bird Archaeopteryx of the Jurassic 

 age. Fossils of giant penguins of Eocene and Miocene ages 

 show that there has been extremely little development since. 



He passed on to the classification and habitat of different 

 genera, nest-making habits, eggs, &c. Then to a brief account 

 of the habits of the Emperors and Adelies, which was of course 

 less novel ground for the old hands. 



Of special points of interest I recall his explanation of the 

 desirability of embryonic study of the Emperor to throw fur- 

 ther light on the development of the species in the loss of teeth, 

 &c.; and Ponting's contribution and observation of adult Adelies 

 teaching their young to swim — this point has been obscure. It 

 has been said that the old birds push the young into the water, 

 and, per contra, that they leave them deserted in the rookery 



