BIRD ISLAND AND SAINT CROIX 203 



noticed that they generally waited for a higher wave 

 than usual, taking advantage of the help thus afforded 

 to start them on their way. It often took them five or 

 six attempts before they could obtain a foothold up the 

 steep rocks, and when at last they succeeded in getting 

 their balance they would toddle up with bent back, 

 aided by their outstretched flippers, and rejoin their 

 companions who were waiting for them at the summit. 

 I think the small barnacles which in many places 

 covered the rocks down by the sea, were a great 

 assistance to them in gaining a foothold. Perhaps the 

 most successful photograph that I obtained of them is 

 the one shown on plate 49, which presents the birds in 

 three different attitudes, some swimming in the water, 

 others laboriously climbing up the steep face of the 

 rock, and others again standing at the top. Once in 

 the water, however rough it might be, they seemed to 

 be thoroughly at home, swimming easily, and when 

 the waves became too rough for them they took refuge 

 in diving, at which they were adepts ; here they looked 

 anything but foolish. One bird which was standing on 

 a piece of rock, separated from another piece of rock 

 by a fissure of about a foot in width, apparently wished 

 to change its position ; this it could only do by jumping, 

 so, after contemplating the situation for a little while, 

 it shuffled with its feet and then jumped across the gap, 

 only just managing to regain its foothold on the other 

 side. 



The great breeding stations of these Penguins are 

 for the most part on islands where they can deposit 

 their eggs in burrows and holes in the ground, but 

 on St. Croix and one or two other rocky islands they 



