BIRDS UNDER WATER 141 



ever they get a bit of bread, and the surface- 

 feeding ducks to put their heads under water 

 with it, though both of them have to swallow 

 it above water in the end. 



To return to the penguins, another use they 

 put their queer wings to is to work them as 

 front legs when they are in a hurry ; in the 

 ordinary way a penguin toddles along solemnly 

 in an upright position, but when it wants to 

 go fast it drops on all fours, the wings acting 

 as forepaws. Although they look so awk- 

 ward on land, penguins really do a great deal 

 of walking about, for their breeding-places 

 are often many yards from the sea, and so 

 they really spend a good deal more time on 

 their feet than other divers do, and walk about 

 more than a great many land-birds, especially 

 as their young ones do not go into the water 

 till they are fledged, so that all the food they 

 get has to be carried to them. And when an 

 old penguin is moulting it gives up going to 

 sea altogether, and stays on shore for weeks 

 at a time without anything to eat, until the 

 new suit of feathers has come through. For 

 all this, penguins sometimes stay out at sea 

 for a very long time together, for one was once 



