PENGUINS. 63 



iiiimediatel}', as if oi'dert'il, jumping and diving in a different direction. Such excur- 

 sions of larger parties seem not to be the rule, however; they return usually simulta- 

 neously to their station singly or in small nuniliers." 



It is interesting to observe that the haliits of the same species on the Falkland 

 Islands liave been modified considerably on account of the permanent residence of 

 man in the vicinity of the breeding grounds, for Captain Abbott remarks that, in the 

 iieglil)()rhood of the settlement of Stanley, the burrows run in to a considerable distance, 

 "on account, I conclude, of their being so often robbed of their eggs, which are taken 

 out by means of a jnece of iron hoop fastened to the end of a pole." 



The accompanying cut gives a good idea of the remaining members of the order, 

 the rock-lioppers, Catarractes, also known as Ufuh/ptes, easily recognized by their ele- 

 gant yellow superciliary crests and the short bill, with the u])per jaw of a character- 

 istic oval form. Two species are generally admitted, C. demersus {catarractes and 

 chrijsocome) and C. c/iri/solophiis, the latter l)eing the ' macaroni ' of the sealers ; but it 

 seems as if the birds referred to the former, the true rock-hojjpers, may be separated ac- 

 cording to the different localities, Falkland Islands, Kerguelen Island, New Zealand, and 

 Tristan d'Acunha, in several forms of at least sub-specific value. A few short extracts 

 from Professor Moseley's excellent account may be found acceptable to complete the 

 picture of this singular order of birds : " It is impossible to conceive the discomfort of 

 making one's way through a big rookerv. You ])hinge into one of the lanes in the tall 

 grass, which at once shuts the surroundings from your view. You tread on a slimy, 

 black, damp soil composed of the bird's dung. The stench is overpowering, the yell- 

 ing of the birds perfectly terrifying. The nests are placed so thickly that you cannot 

 help treading on eggs and yo\ing l)irds at almost every step. A j)arent bird sits on 

 each nest, with its sharp beak erect and open, ready to bite, yelling savagely, 'caa, 

 caa, urr, urr,' its red eye gleaming, and its plumes at half-cock, and quivering with 

 rage, No sooner are your legs within reach than they are furiously bitten, often by 

 two or three birds at once — that is, if you have not got on strong leather gaiters, as 

 on the first occasion of visiting a rookery, you probably have not. At first you try to 

 avoid the nests, but soon find that impossible; then, maddened almost by the pain, 

 stench, and noise, you have recourse to brutality, and the path behind you is strewed 

 with tlie dead and dying and bleeding. But you make miserably slow progress, and, 

 worried to death, at last resort to the exjiedient of stampeding as far as your breath 

 will carry you. I always adopted the stampede method in rookeries. Tliese penguins 

 make a nest which is simjily a sliallow depression in tlie black dirt, scantily lined with 

 a few bits of grass, or not lined at all. Tiiey lay two greenish-white eggs about as big 

 as duck eggs, and both male and fem.ale incubate. This penguin is called 'rock- 

 hopper ' from its curious mode of progression. Tlie birds hop from rock to rock with 

 both feet placed together, scarcely ever missing their footing." 



Little is known as yet as to the geological history of the penguins, except that it 

 dates back to the upper eocene at least, since fossil bones (humerus, cor.acoids, and 

 metatarsus) of a gigantic form, Palcpcitdyptes imtarcticus have been fmind in strata 

 of that age on New Zealand. This form stood from six to seven feet high, or higher 

 than an average man ! We have here a distinct evidence of the great age of the 

 group, as miglit also be inferred from their remoteness from all other known birds. 

 Tlieir rci.ations seem to be witii the other schizognathous Xatatores, rather than with 

 any other, but the exact affinities are very obscure, for, as Professor Xewton remarks, 

 there is perhaps scarcely a feather or a bone which is not diagnostic. 



Leoxiiakd Stejnegke. 



