Chap, v.] HABITS OF MOLLYMAUKS. I I 3 



soar after a ship over the sea as cleverly as any other albatross ; 

 indeed, the same peculiarity occurs in the case of the large 

 albatross when nesting. 



When bullied with a stick or handled on the nests, the birds 

 snap their bills rapidly together with a defiant air, but they 

 may be pushed or poked off with great ease. Usually a pair is 

 to be seen at each nest, and then by standing near a short time 

 one may see a curious courtship going on. 



The male stretches his neck out, erects his wings and feathers 

 a bit, and utters a series of high-pitched rapidly repeated 

 sounds, not unlike a shrill laugh. As he does this he puts his 

 head close up against that of the female. 



Then the female stretches her neck straight up, and turning 

 up her beak utters a similar sound, and rubs bills with the 

 male again. The same manoeuvre is constantly repeated. 



The albatrosses make their nests sometimes right in the 

 middle of a penguin road, but the two kinds of birds live 

 perfectly happily together. I saw no fighting, though, small as 

 the penguins are, I think they could easily drive out the 

 Mollymauks if they wished it. 



The ground of the rookery is bored in all directions by the 

 holes of Prions and petrels, which thus live under the penguins. 

 Their holes were not so numerous in the rookery at Inacces- 

 sible Island as here. The holes add immensely to the difficul- 

 ties of traversing a rookery, since as one is making a rush, the 

 ground is apt to give way, and give one a fall into the black 

 filthy mud amongst a host of furious birds, which have then 

 full chance at one's eyes and face. 



Besides the mollymauks and petrels, one or two pairs of 

 Skuas had nests on a few mounds of earth in the rookery. 

 How these mounds came there I could not understand. 



The Skuas' eggs are closely like those of the lesser black- 

 backed gull, and two in number. The birds swooped about 

 our heads as we robbed the nests, but were not nearly so fierce 

 as those we encountered further south. All round their nests 

 were scattered skeletons of Prions. 



I, with three sailors carrying my botanical cases, attempted 

 to scale the Peak ; we had a desperate struggle through long 

 grass and penguins, and at last had to come back beaten, and 

 made for the Phylica patches, where the ground was clear. 

 Thence I fought my way through the grass up to the top of 

 the lower ridge of the island, but, though there were no 

 penguins on this slope, I never had harder work in my life. 



I had to stop every ten yards or so for breath, the growth of 

 the grass was so dense. My men lost me and never reached 

 the top. On the summit I found the rest of the party which 



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