THE PENGUINS OF SOUTH GEORGIA 
use the wings instead of the feet as 
propelling organs. Certainly the pin- 
ions of nestling penguins seem extraordi- 
narily underdeveloped. The little birds 
begin to exercise them soon after birth 
by flapping them, weakly at first but 
vigorously later on —a trait that sug- 
gests ancestral aspirations for flight. 
On many occasions I put nestlings of 
various ages, as well as fully grown, 
molting young, into the fresh water 
ponds, where they proved themselves 
almost as helpless as human_ beings 
unfamiliar with swimming. They in- 
stinctively put their heads under water 
and tried to swim below the surface in 
the approved fashion, but it was a feat 
quite impossible for them. They beat 
the wings simultaneously, and bobbed 
up and down without making much 
progress. Such a scene always attracts 
a band of skua gulls to the spot, as if 
235 
these ogres realized the helpless misery 
of a young penguin in the water. The 
skuas do not strike while their prospec- 
tive victim is swimming, but pace along 
the shore waiting to intercept its land- 
ing. Once a half-grown youngster, with 
which I had been experimenting, crawled 
out of the graveyard pool into the very 
jaws of seven skuas which attacked it 
en masse. The little penguin struck 
with its feeble wings and cried out 
piteously. Insignificant as it was, not 
one of the skuas dared seize it outright, 
but they made quick rushes from all 
sides, striking the penguin on the head 
with closed bills, and then retreating. 
I hurried to the rescue and restored the 
little bird to its nest where I afterward 
saw it resting characteristically with its 
head hidden between its mother’s warm 
feathered thighs. 
{Story of King Penguins in next issue of JouRNAL] 
A group of king penguins. 
of the American Museum of Natural History 
Above is Lucas Glacier named by Mr. Murphy in honor of the director 
