THE KING P.ENGUIN. 2OI 



with a soft down, having something. of the appearance of hair, which 

 might be taken for scales. Like all the Penguins, this bird is an 

 excellent swimmer and incomparable diver, and its coating of down 

 is so dense that it even resists a bullet j it is consequently difficult 

 to shoot. 



The shape and appearance of the Penguins indicate their adapta- 

 tion to an aquatic life. Their feet are placed at the extremity of the 

 body an arrangement which renders them awkward and heavy when 

 ashore, where, in short, they only come to lay and hatch their eggs. 

 They begin to assemble in great numbers at the commencement of 

 October. Their nests are a very simple construction, for they con- 

 tent themselves with a hole in the sand deep enough to contain 

 two eggs, but more often one. 



In spite of the limited number of eggs, the quantity of these 

 birds found in the south of Patagonia is something prodigious. 

 When sailors land in these high latitudes they take or kill as many 

 as they choose. Sir John Narborough says, speaking of those at 

 the Falkland Islands, that "when the sailors walked among the 

 feathered population to provide themselves with eggs, they were 

 regarded with sidelong glances." In many places the shores were 

 covered with these birds, and 300 have been taken within an hour ; 

 for generally they make no effort to escape, but stand quietly by 

 while their companions are being knocked down with sticks. 



In another islet, in the Straits of Magellan, Captain Drake's crew 

 killed more than 3,000 in one day. These facts are not exaggerated. 

 This island, when visited by these navigators, probably had never 

 been pressed previously by a human foot, and the birds had suc- 

 ceeded each other from generation to generation in incalculable 

 numbers, hitherto free from molestation. 



The Penguins have no fear of man. Mr. Darwin pleasantly 

 relates an encounter that he had with one of these birds on the 

 Falkland Islands. " One day," he says, " having placed myself 

 between a Penguin and the water, I was much amused by the action 

 of the bird. It was a brave bird, and, till reaching the sea, it regu- 

 larly fought and drove me backwards. Nothing less than heavy 

 blows would have stopped him. Every inch gained he kept firmly, 

 standing close before me firm, erect, and determined, all the time 

 rolling his head from side to side in a very odd manner, as if the 

 powers of vision only lay in the anterior and basal part of each eye." 

 There are many species of Penguins, the handsomest probably being 

 the Crested Penguin (Eudypes chrysocoma\ which is a native of 

 Patagonia, and has a very conspicuous appearance. These birds are 

 81* 



