516 BIRDS or AUSTRALIA. 



that, when the hen has occasion to go off to feed or wash, the 

 egg is transported to him, which is done by placing their toes 

 together and rolHng it from one to the other, using their beaks 

 to place it properly. The hen keeps charge of her young 

 nearly a year, and, in teaching them to swim, the mother has 

 frequently to use some artifice, for when the young one refuses 

 to take to the water, she entices it to the side of a rock and 

 pushes it in, and this is repeated until it takes to the sea of its 

 own accord." 



We are told by Sir James Clark Ross, in his ' Voyage of 

 Discovery in the Southern and Antarctic Regions ' : " Posses- 

 sion Island is situated in lat. 71° 56', and long. 71° 7' E., 

 composed entirely of igneous rocks, and only accessible on its 

 western side. We saw not the smallest appearance of vege- 

 tation, but inconceivable myriads of Penguins completely and 

 densely covered the whole surface of the island, along the 

 ledges of the precipices, and even to the summits of the hills, 

 attacking us vigorously as we waded through their ranks, and 

 pecking at us with their sharp beaks, disputing possession ; 

 which, together with their loud coarse notes, and the insupport- 

 able stench from the deep bed of guano which had been 

 forming for ages, and which may at some period be valuable 

 to the agriculturalists of our Australian colonies, made us glad 

 to get away again, after having loaded our boats with geolo- 

 gical specimens and Penguins." Captain Carmichael, in bis 

 description of the island of Tristan d'Acunha, says " the 

 Crested Penguin {Catarrhades chri/socoma, Briss.) conceals 

 itself among the long grass, and in the bottom of ravines 

 where they open upon the shore. Here they assemble in 

 countless multitudes, and keep up a moaning noise, which 

 can be heard at a great distance from the mountain ; and the 

 bold, inhospitable coast around you is calculated to excite a 

 train of ideas by no means pleasant." 



