AVES SPHENISCID^. IO9 



the 22nd of February, the bird appeared dull, and with half-closed eyes 

 moped about: it became ill-tempered and spiteful, bit at any one who 

 offered to touch it, and avoided going into the water. The bird looked 

 larger than before, its feathers standing out from its body during this 

 condition ; but its appetite continued good, and it fed as freely as usual. 



"In a few days the feathers began to fall off from all parts of the bird, 

 not, as birds usually moult, a few feathers at a time, but in large quantities : 

 for instance, the bird generally remained stationary during the night, and 

 in the morning there was left round it a circle of cast feathers that had 

 been shed during the night. So rapidly did the process of moulting go 

 on, that by the 7th of March the bird had entirely renewed its plumage, 

 and appeared in the adult dress, as represented in figure 2 (p. 8). The 

 manner in which the flipper-like wings cast off the short scale like-feathers 

 was remarkable : they flaked off like the shedding of the skin of a ser- 

 pent ; the new feathers being already plainly visible, the old feathers were 

 pushed off by the new ones ; this was very clearly noticeable, as many of 

 the old feathers could be seen still attached to the tips of the new feathers, 

 so that the bird was entirely covered with its new plumage before the 

 old feathers dropped off. The bird had by these means entirely changed 

 its dress and appearance in certainly less than ten days. It looked thinner 

 on account of the shortness of its new feathers, and doubtless from a 

 decrease in bulk, consequent upon the rapid developement of the entire 

 plumage. The bird avoided the water for a few days before it began to 

 moult, and also after it had renewed its feathers ; it soon, however, became 

 lively, its eyes assumed their usual form and brightness, it took freely to 

 the water, in which it passed the greater part of the day. Its movements 

 in the water when swimming, diving, and pursuing fish were most extra- 

 ordinary ; it seemed, as it were, to fly under water, using its flipper-like 

 wings after the fashion of a Seal. 



"The Penguin appears so much at home in the water, so perfectly 

 adapted to an aquatic life, that one would conclude that, but for the 

 necessity of breeding and moulting, this bird would be far more at home 

 on the ocean than in passing even a short period on land, being so ill- 

 adapted in form for travelling on shore." (Bartlett, P. Z. S. 1879, pp. 

 6-9) 



