Penguins.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



59 



busily engaged in searching for various marine 

 animals, which are tossed up by the agitated waters. 

 The ocean is its home and resting-place, except 

 during the season of incubation, when it resorts in 

 thousands to the ledges of precipitous rocI;s, on 

 which the female deposits her single egg, of a pale 

 bluish green. Its flight is rapid, but low, and never 

 long sustained. This species is about nine inches 

 long. The head, back of the neck, and upper plu- 

 mage are black ; under plumage white ; a narrow- 

 white bar across the wing; the throat, neck, and 

 upper part of the breast pitch-black in summer, 

 more or less white in winter. 



Fig. 2028 shows the Gizzard and Proventriculus 

 of tills bird laid open: the latter is remarkable for 

 its peculiar form. 



2029. — The Pakiiakeet Auk 

 {Phaleris Psittaculd). Alca psittacula, Pallas. 

 This species, which has the habits and manners of 

 the preceding, differs in the form of the beak, of 

 which the upper mandible is swollen, and bent at 

 the tip, and the under mandible enlarged and turned 

 upwards. It is a native of the Arctic circle, and 

 swims and dives with great facility. The female 

 lays a single egg, nearly equalling that of a fowl, of 

 a yellowish white colour with brown spots. The 

 length of this species is about eleven inches. From 

 behind the eye springs a tuft of white feathers, which 

 hang down the side of the neck. General colour 

 above, black, gradually blending into the white of 

 the under parts. It is common on the north-western 

 coast of America. 



Family SPHENISCIDiE (PENGUINS). 



The Prince ofCanino, in his ' Specchio generale del 

 Sistema Ornitologico,' regards, we think correctly, 

 the penguins as constituting a distinct family. 

 They are birds utterly incapable of flight, having 

 their paddle-wings with short rigid scale-like feathers 

 disposed in regular order ; the tarsi are placed so 

 completely behind that in resting the birds assume 

 naturally an upright attitude ; the toes are webbed ; 

 the tarsi very short and stout. These birds are es- 

 sentially aquatic, seldom visiting the shore except 

 during the breeding season, and their progress on 

 land is very singular : while swimming they are 

 immersed above the breast. All are natives of the 

 colder seas of the southern hemisphere. The bones, 

 unlike those of birds in general, are hard, compact, 

 and heavy, and have no apertures for the admission 

 of air ; those of the extremities containing an oily 

 marrow. 



2030, 2031. — The Patagonian Penguin 



(Aptenodytes Patachonica). King Penguin; le 

 grand Manchot of the French. 



This strange bird, which, among its own class, 

 seems to be the analogue of the seals among mam- 

 malia, is admirably adapted for oceanic habits. The 

 vfhole of its osseous and muscular structure, its tough 

 oily skin, and the character of its close and rigid 

 plumage, at once indicate its mode of life. We may 

 here observe that a very elaborate account of the 

 anatomy of the penguin by Mr. Reid will be found 

 in the ' Proceeds. Zool. Soc' for 1835. 



Though often alluded to by voyagers and navi- 

 gators, the manners and habits of the Patagonian 

 penguin have been very imperfectly understood. 

 Its range of habitation is restricted to the latitudes 

 south of the line, but within this boundary it is 

 widely distributed, being abundant not only in the 

 Straits of Magellan, and on all the adjacent islands, 

 but extending to Au-stralia, through the islands of 

 the South Pacific. If Clusius be right, the first 

 discovery of these birds was by the Dutch, in 1598, 

 who met with them on some islands near Port 

 Desire, to which they came in order to breed ; and 

 the sailors called them penguins, or pingouins, and 

 the islands the Penguin Islands. "These singular 

 birds," adds Clusius, " are without wings, having in 

 their place two membranes, which hang down on 

 each side like little arms ; their neck is thick and 

 short, their skin hard and tough, like that of a 

 hog ; the young weighed ten or twelve pounds, but 

 the old ones about sixteen, and their size was 

 generally that of a goose." Forster, however, 

 mea.sured some thirty-nine inches long and thirty 

 pounds in weight ; he remarks, that they were met 

 with in troops on New Georgia, and that such was 

 their stupidity, that they allowed themselves to be 

 approached, so that the sailors knocked them down 

 with sticks. (See ' Second Voyage of Captain Cook,' 

 vol. iv.) Bougainville, who met witlj them in the 

 Falkland Isles, observes that they love solitai-y and 

 remote spots ; he also well describes their colour, 

 and notices an attempt made to tame one and bring 

 it to Europe, but for want of proper food it became 

 meagre and died. Beyond the facts, however, that 

 they associate in vast bodies, sitting upright on the 

 beach, in close array ; that they are destitute of the 

 fear of man, in lonely islands where man had never 

 been before ; and that they are incapable of flight, 

 Vol. II. 



we gain but little positive information from the 

 relations of the earlier navigators. Fortunately, 

 more attention is now directed to natural history 

 than formerly ; and several individuals have recorded 

 their personal observations on the habits of the 

 animals met with on their journeys and voyages, to 

 say nothing of naturalists who expressly travelled 

 for the purpose of acquiring knowledge in this de- 

 partment of science. In the 'Zool. Proc' lor 1835 

 is an account of the penguin, by Mi-. G. Bennett, 

 which we shall take the liberty of transcribing. 

 This able naturalist, to whom science is indebted for 

 many original observations, and whose v.ork, en- 

 titled 'Wanderings,' &c., is well known, paid much 

 attention to the Patagonian, or king penguin, which 

 he met with in various islands in the high southern 

 latitudes ; and he describes particularly a colony of 

 these birds, which covers an extent of thirty or forty 

 acres at the north end of Macquarrie Island, in the 

 South Pacific Ocean. 



"The number of penguins collected together in 

 this spot is immense, but it would be almost im- 

 possible to guess at it with any near approach to 

 truth, as, during the whole of the day and night, 

 thirty or forty thousand of them are continually 

 landing, and an equal number going to sea. They 

 are arranged, when on shore, in as compact a manner 

 and in as regular ranks as a regiment of soldiers; 

 and are classed with the greatest order, the young 

 birds being in one situation, the moulting birds in 

 another, the sitting hens in a third, the clean birds 

 in a fourth, &c. ; and so strictly do birds in similar 

 condition congregate, that should a bird that is 

 moulting intrude itself among those which are clean, 

 it is immediately ejected from among them. 



" The females hatch the eggs by keeping them 

 close between their thighs; and if approached 

 during the time of incubation, move away, carrying 

 the eggs with them. At this time the male bird 

 goes to sea and collects food for the female, which 

 becomes very fat. After the young is hatched, both 

 parents go to sea, and bring home food for it ; it 

 soon becomes so fat as scarcely to be able to walk, 

 the old birds getting very thin. They sit quite 

 upright in the roosting-places, and walk in the 

 erect position until they arrive at the beach, when 

 they throw themselves on their breasts in order to 

 encounter the very heavy sea met with at their land 

 ing-place." 



Although the appearance of penguins generally 

 indicates the neighbourhood of land, Mr. G. 

 Bennett cited several instances of their occurrence 

 at a considerable distance from any known land. 



The observations of Mr. Bennett are confirmed 

 by Lieut. Liardet, from whom was obtained the 

 specimen dissected by Mr. Reid.'* They assemble 

 on the shore, herd together in vast bodies, forming 

 a dense phalanx, all moving and acting in concert 

 together; one party going otF to sea, — another 

 party returning, — another remaining in array on the 

 beach. They appear to be very peaceable among 

 each other, but are sometimes observed to fight, 

 striking with the posterior edge of the wing. Should 

 a person attempt to lay hold of them, they not only 

 use their wings but their beak, which is a far more 

 formidable weapon, and capable of inflicting a 

 severe wound. Cuttle-fishes appear to constitute 

 the greater part of their food ; in the stomach of 

 the specimen dissected was found a considerable 

 number of the horny pariot-like beaks of these 

 molluscous animals. Their mode of walking is very 

 singular ; it is a sort of awkward waddle, the body 

 turning with the action of the limbs in motion, 

 which cross each other alternately; it is, in fact, 

 an "over-handed" mode of progression, if the word 

 be allowed, producing a strange and ludicrous effect. 

 We see a tendency to it in the waddle of the duck 

 and other swimming-birds. During the period of 

 incubation the females all assemble together, sitting 

 upright on a kind of general nest of loosely-arranged 

 sticks, which they carry to the selected spot in 

 their bills, and flourish if then approached, as if in 

 defiance of the intruder on their secluded haunt. 

 They lay but one egg, of a whitish colour, and twice 

 the size of that of the goose ; this they carry between 

 their thighs, supporting it beneath by the short stiff 

 tail, which is bent underneath it. 'The young are 

 covered with thick soft down, of a brownish grey ; 

 in this state the bird is the woolly penguin of Latham, 

 which must not be regarded as a distinct species, 

 but as the king penguin in nestling plumage. At 

 night they utter loud moaning noises in concert, the 

 general chorus of voices resounding to a great 

 distance, and clearly distinguishable from the roar 

 of the surf or lashing of the waves. The flesh of the 

 penguin is rank, and unfit for food ; both the muscles 

 and bones are oily, and the skin is lined with a thick 

 layer of oleaginous fat ; yet more than five hundred 

 were taken in New Year's Island (near Staaten 

 Island), as food for the crew, by the sailors in 



* This specimen was captured at East FalicUnd Isle, in latitr.de 

 51° 3B' south. 



Captain Cook's ship (' Last Voyage, vol. i.), who 

 found them occupying that spot in thousands. 



There is something in the strange figure and 

 aspect of the penguin well agreeing with the wild, 

 lonely, remote islands in which it congregates. In 

 beholding: a spot on the surface of our globe, ocean- 

 girt, and uninhabited by man, tenanted by thousands 

 of these birds, which for ages — generation after 

 generation — have been the uninterrupted occupiers 

 of the place, we are thrown back upon primeval 

 days ; and we involuntarily recur to the now extinct 

 dodo, and the idea forces itself upon us, that this 

 bird also may, at some future time, become utteily 

 annihilated. 



The general plumage of the penguin is short, 

 close, glossy, compact, and water-proof; the bill is 

 long, slender, and somewhat bent at the tip; a 

 longitudinal furrow runs along each side of the 

 upper mandible, down which the. feathers of the 

 forehead proceed to a considerable distance, en- 

 tirely concealing the nostrils. The feet consi-st of 

 three toes, with intervening webs, but a fourth 

 rudimentary toe is seated above the base of the first 

 or inner toe on each foot. The eye is small, viewed 

 externally ; but its globe is really large, and it is 

 furnished with a strong membrana nictitans. 



The height of this species is upwards of three 

 feet ; its colours are beautifully disposed and con- 

 trasted. The bill is black, except the base of the 

 under mandible, which is rich reddish purple, with 

 a plum-like bloom, gradually merging into dusky 

 and ultimately into black ; the top of the head and 

 throat are black, bounded by a belt of fine pure 

 golden yellow, which commences broad on the sides 

 of the head, and becomes narrow in its progress as 

 it runs down to the middle of the neck, where it 

 passes onwards till it blends with the silvery white 

 of the under surface ; the colour of the upper 

 surface of the body and paddles is glossy bluish 

 grey ; each feather, if examined, being dusky black 

 margined with bluish grey, and it is from the over- 

 lapping of the feathers on each other that one 

 uniform tint is produced; the tail, which is short, 

 and indeed can scarcely be called a tail, consists of 

 slender stiflf elastic feathers, bent under the bird, as 

 it sits up on the shore. 



Fig. 2032 represents the Head, and Fig. 2033 the 

 Foot of the King Penguin. 



2034. — The Crested Penguin 



{Eudypes chrysocoma, Vieillot). Catarrhactes chry- 

 socoma, Brisson ; Aptenodytes chrysocoma, Graelin. 



This beautiful species inhabits the Falkland 

 Islands, the shores of Patagonia, the island of 

 Tristan d'Acunha, and is often found far out at sea, 

 swimming in pairs. Lesson killed individuals in 

 43° 8' 38" S. lat., and 5G° 50' 49" W. long. It has 

 obtained the name of jumping penguin, from its 

 habit of leaping quite out of the mater, not only in 

 order to avoid obstacles, but apparently as if for 

 sport. It is le Gorfou sauteur of Cuvier. 



The crested penguin, says Latham, " appears to 

 be more lively than the others, but, in fact, they are 

 stupid birds, so as to admit of being knocked down 

 with sticks when on land, and are frequently so 

 regardless as to suffer themselves to be taken by the 

 hand. When enraged they erect their crests in a 

 very beautiful manner. They make their nests 

 among those of the pehcan tribe, living in tolerable 

 harmony with them." " They are, however, mostly 

 seen by themselves, seldom mixing with other 

 penguins, and are often met with on the outer shores 

 where they have been bred. The females incubate 

 in burrows, which they easily form by means of 

 their bill, throwing out the earth with their feet ; in 

 these holes the egg is deposited on the bare ground." 

 " We learn, from the ' Embassy to China,' that these 

 birds were found in vast abundance in the island of 

 Amsterdam, often basking and standing erect in 

 company with the seals." Captain Carmichael, in 

 his description of the island of Tristan d'Acunha, 

 states, respecting this species, that it " conceals 

 itself among the long grass, and in the bottom of 

 ravines where they open upon the shore. Here 

 these birds assemble in countless multitudes, and 

 keep up a moaning noise, which can be heard at a 

 great distance from the mountain." He adds that 

 " in many birds I had an opportunity of examining 

 the pupil was contracted to <i mere dot." (' Linn. 

 Trans.' v. 12.) 



The crested penguin is twenty-three inches in 

 length ; the bill is red, with a dark furrow running 

 on each side to the tip ; the upper mandible, three 

 inches in length, is curved at the end; the head, 

 neck, back, sides, and wings externally are black : 

 the whole of the under surface is white ; over each 

 eye runs a stripe of pale golden yellow feathers, which 

 lengthen behind into a pendent crest nearly four 

 inches long, and can be erected at pleasure; the 

 feathers on each side of the head above this crest 

 are longer than the others, and stand upwards; the 

 female has a yellow streak above each eye, but the 

 crest is not developed ; legs orange-coloured. 



I 2 



