THE ANTARCTIC QUESTION — MACHAT. 475 



varieties more particularly polar, and all of them, associated with the 

 manchots, give to the animal life of the ice bank and the border of 

 the antarctic lands a very special aspect. 



Coming from the north, the first bird to appear is a small petrel, 

 the cape pigeon or damier, which is quite numerous. After this come 

 the terns, six varieties of the petrel, including the Megalestris^ and 

 the great petrel, a genuine vulture of the south pole, with its wing 

 spread of more than two meters; finally the cormorant {Phalocrocorax 

 atripex)^ the sea gulls (Larus dominicanus, etc.), the chionis, and 

 the manchots. All these animals are webfooted excepting the chionis, 

 by which is demonstrated their dependence on the sea element that 

 nourishes them. Almost all the birds, like the seals, are destined to 

 migrations that take them far from land from the time when the cold 

 extends and thickens the coast glaciers; that is, from May until the 

 first half of November, when they go south again to lay their eggs. 

 The rookeries then suddenly spring to life, and colonies of various 

 species come to dispute a place for their nests of seaweed (the cormo- 

 rants), of mosses and lichens (the sea gulls), or of plain sand and 

 rocks (the terns). Only the cormorants, the sea gulls, and the 

 chionis, that can fly far for their food, remain on land during the 

 winter. The albatross and the petrels, which are exceedingly car- 

 nivorous, and consequently great game thieves and scavengers, follow 

 the great migration. When the seals and nearly all the birds aban- 

 don these regions, absolute desolation remains; the polar lands lie 

 dead beneath their mantle of pitchy darkness, fog, and ice. 



The penguins, far more numerous than the other birds, are the 

 principal friends of the explorers, whose table they abundantly sup- 

 ply. All descriptions of the country are filled with details regarding 

 their habits and characteristics, especially noting the good nature, 

 watchfulness and curiosity of these interesting birds. Thousands 

 of photographs portray all the phases of life in their well-estab- 

 lished communities. On West Antarctide the penguin of Adelie 

 {Pijgoscelis Adelirv) and the papou penguin {Pygoseelis jxipoua) are 

 tlie most common. The Belgica, Fmngais, and Antarctic expeditions 

 have minutely studied the penguin colonies. The antarctic penguin 

 {Pygoseelis antarctica) has been seen in small groups in Belgica 

 Strait and on Wandel Island. The Frangais failed to find in this 

 locality the great emperor penguin {Aptenodytes Forsterii), common 

 enough toward Mount Gauss and Victoria Land. 



The insect family has very few representatives. The explorers of 

 West Antarctide discovered a wingless fly, the Belgica antarctica^ 

 which lives among the mosses, three or four varieties of Acariens and 

 the snow flea.'* 



° De Gerlache : Op. cit., p. 151. O. NordenskjiJld : Op. cit, p. 295. 



