Vol. XVII. 



19 



] XicHOLLs, Study of Penguins on The Nobhies, Vic. HQ 



correct measurements, especially those relating to total length, 

 upon struggling, biting birds decided us to make a series of skins. 

 The list of same, with the data, will be found tabulated at the 

 end of the article. The coloration of the soft parts was taken in 

 the field, and all measurements were taken in the flesh, in milli- 

 metres. All the specimens were chloroformed. The measure- 

 ments were as follows : — 



Total length. — Bird outstretched on back, and measured from 

 tip of bill to tip of tail. 



Flipper {two measurements). — (i) From base of flipper to tip 

 of wing (in taking this measurement the mm. rule was pressed 

 in under the " arm-pit " of the flipper tight up against the body) ; 

 (2) from carpal joint to tip of wing. 



Tarsus. — From joint of tarsus with leg to joint of first phalange 

 of middle toe. 



Middle toe and claw. — From joint of first phalange to tip of claw. 



Culmen. — Length. — From base of culmen to tip (not following 

 the curve at tip of maxilla). Depth. — From the gonys {i.e., the 

 point of union of the mandibular rami), one point of the callipers 

 being placed on the prominence at the point of union of the rami, 

 the other immediately above it. 



It has been found necessary to give the precise points from which 

 the measurements were taken, as most previous workers have 

 omitted them, or measured from different points, which renders 

 comparisons useless. 



Before we come , to summarize the tabulated results, a few- 

 general remarks on Penguins may not be out of place. 



The earliest reference to Penguins is to be found in the first 

 voyage of Vasco da Gama to India, in 1499. The following 

 extract has been taken from a paper read before the A.A.A.S., 

 Adelaide, 1907, by James M'Clymont, M.A.2 : — " Penguins were 

 seen by the companions of Vasco da Gama in the Angrade Sao 

 Bras, on the south coast of Africa, in December of the year 1499. 

 These are referred to in a copy of the original MSS. of the voyage 

 by an anonymous writer who accompanied the expedition, in 

 which the birds are called ' Fotylicayros,' in error for ' Soty- 

 licayros,' one of the names applied to Penguins as well as Auks. 

 It was stated that the birds were as large as Ganders {patos), and 

 their cry resembled the braying of asses, and they could not fly 

 because they had no quills (feathers). 



" Manuel de Mesquitor Perestrello, who visited the same coast 

 in 1575, added to this description that the ends of the wings of 

 Solilicarios were covered with fine down (penugen), that the birds 

 dived for fish and reared their young in nests constructed from 

 fish-bones, which, it may be inferred, were the residue of repasts 

 of Penguins and seals. Observations of present-day naturalists 

 do not support the fish-bone construction theory (says M'Clymont), 

 as the Cape Penguins use only small stones, shells, and debris. 

 In modern Portuguese Penguins are called ' Pinguins ' (' Pinguins 

 du sul ')." 



