O02 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
antarctic petrel (Thalasswca antarctica), and the first skua gulls 
(Megalestris antarctica) ; two species of penguins (Adelia and Impe- 
rial) not yet fully developed, and living on the abundant banks of 
Kuphausia superba, to which also refer for his nutrition the white 
seal or crab-eater (Lobodon carcinophaqgus), of which the dentition is 
disposed after the manner of a seine. The Ross seal (Ommatophoca 
rossi), with molars atrophid for want of use, lives at the expense of 
the cephalopods. Besides roam all round a horde of carnivorous 
animals carrying terror among the lowly fishermen, the sea leopard 
(Stenorhincus) with redoubtable dentition, in the stomach of which 
Ross found 28 pounds of fish, and the naturalists of the Discovery 
found an imperial penguin, entire. Finally, at the end of this car- 
nivorous series, the troops, swift and numerous, of orcas or epaulards 
(Orca gladiator) swallowing indiscriminately penguins and seals in 
which it inspires terror. The crab-eating seal, the most abundant on 
the ice pack, shows frequent scars, indicative of fights with the orca. 
- Upon the ice pack which fringes the shore of Victoria Land, the 
fauna is less varied, but this struggle for existence is also less severe. 
Toward the border, nearest the open water, the herd of manchots in 
October install their strange dwellings, of which Mr. Wilson, after 
the explorers of Cape Adare, gives a picturesque description. It is 
there that they breed, commonly in low places, sometimes upon rather 
high hills but within easy reach of permanent or periodic openings 
in the ice pack, feeding zealously their young, in spite of the ravages 
which the sea gulls make in their ranks. In these rookeries thou- 
sands and thousands of penguins frisk and strive among themselves 
with great noise and amidst an insupportable odor. 
Messrs. Wilson and Royds have determined as a result of heroic 
visits pursued under trying atmospheric conditions toward the colony 
of Cape Crozier, 50 miles from the ship, that two animals in par- 
ticular are in habitat and custom symbolic of the peculiarly severe 
climate of Victoria Land; these are the Weddell seal (Leptonychotes 
weddelli) and the imperial manchot or penguin. The Weddell seal, 
credulous and trustful, for it knows no enemies in the compact ice 
where it ordinarily stays, lives upon the fish that swarm beneath the 
ice. It remains even in winter digging itself holes in the sea ice, and 
spending the coldest seasons in the water. During the polar night its 
grunt was heard as it swam beneath the ship. Its body is almost 
never scarred like that of the crab-eater, for the orca can with diffi- 
culty reach it. The Weddell seal is little disturbed by the presence of 
men; thus it furnished an easy and abundant prey to help out the 
menus of the expedition. 
On the other hand, the naturalists of the Discovery recognized and 
studied on Cape Crozier the first colony of the imperial manchot 
(penguins) that has been described. They collected eggs and a few 
