NATATORES. 515 



Pamny SPHENISCID^. 



This is one of the most isolated families in the whole range 

 of ornithology, and if we turn om- thoughts from them to the 

 Alcad(B of the northern hemisphere, we may regard the two 

 groups as analogues of each other ; they are, however, only 

 analogues, for they are in no way related in affinity ; these 

 Paddle-winged Sea Turtles among birds, in fact, constitute a 

 southern group totally distinct from all others. They are con- 

 siderably diversified in form, and have therefore been divided 

 into no less than six genera, while the species known are 

 perhaps not more than fifteen in number. During the breed- 

 ing-season they are gregarious and assemble in countless mul- 

 titudes on certain isolated rocky islands in the South Atlantic 

 and South Pacific Oceans. 



The generality of them are adorned with many beautifully 

 coloured markings, and in some instances with plumes which 

 hang gracefully behind their heads. The sexes are alike in 

 colour, showing that ornamentation is not solely given as an 

 attraction to the sexes. Three, if not four, species pertain to 

 the avi-fauna of Australia. 



Weddell, in his journal of ' A Voyage towards the South 

 Pole,' thus speaks of the King Penguin as he observed 

 it in the island of South Georgia. " In pride these birds 

 are perhaps not surpassed even by the Peacock, to which, in 

 beauty of plumage, they are indeed very little?' inferior. During 

 the time of moulting they seem to repel each other with dis- 

 gust on account of the ragged state of their coats ; but as they 

 arrive at the maximum of splendour they reassemble, and no 

 one who has not completed his plumage is allowed to enter the 

 community. Their habit of frequently looking down their 

 front and sides, in order to contemplate the perfection of their 

 exterior brilliancy, and to remove any speck which might 

 sully it, is truly amusing to an observer. . . . During 

 the time of hatching the male is remarkably assiduous ; so 



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