SEA BIRDS' HAUNTS 59 



minor. Walking over the rookery, one's feet break 

 through the earth crust and sink into tunnels, so that 

 progress is slow and laborious, unless one is careless 

 of destroying bird homes. Even when caution is 

 exercised, it is impossible to avoid ruining a few bur- 

 rows. Our party was responsible for the breakage of 

 a score of eggs, but I hope that none of the birds was 

 crushed. We saw little of the Penguins, save when 

 a burrow was explored. Many birds were "at home," 

 but they were unwilling to receive visitors, and more 

 than one naturalist repented of his eagerness to bring 

 a Penguin from its nest. For the brave little birds 

 snapped fiercely at hands which attempted to grasp 

 them. In some cases the burrows were under bushes, 

 and had probably been made originally by Short- 

 tailed Petrels or Mutton-Birds [Puffinus brevicaudus] . 

 Cavities at the ends of rock crevices were tenanted. 

 The nest proper, in each instance, was a domed cham- 

 ber, with a carpet of dry grass or weeds. 



The Little Penguin lays two eggs to a clutch. The 

 shell is white and of coarse texture, but slightly 

 glossed. In his charming book, "Antarctic Penguins," 

 Dr. G. Murray Levick, R.N., says that the Adelie Pen- 

 guin [Pygoscelis Adelite] , seen for the first time, gives 

 one the impression of a very smart little man in an 

 evening dress suit, an admirable description. The 

 Little Penguin also is "the gentleman." If it were 

 a creature clad in fur, instead of feathers, and could 

 thrive away from the sea, it would become as popular 

 in drawing-rooms as Persian cats and Pomeranians 

 are at present; and children would demand Penguins 

 instead of Teddy Bears. About eighteen inches in 

 length, the Little Penguin wears a light blue coat, 

 while the under part of the body is covered in silvery 

 white feathers. The chicks, clad in dusky down, re- 

 semble balls of fluff. They cannot endure strong 

 light, and two that were taken from a burrow on 

 Penguin Island, crouched, with closed eyes, against the 

 rock. 



