506 



tErotfurg of Natural $} 



dusky. On the head a thick tufted crest, 

 which the bird can raise or depress at plea- 

 sure. Naked part of the throat scarlet, with 

 an extensile fold of depending skin. Their 

 food consists principally of seeds and fruits, 



which they search for and eat upon the 

 ground ; but they build their nests and perch 

 on trees. The females lay from two to five 

 eggs. From the shortness of their wings 

 their flight is low and heavy. Their note 

 is so extremely loud, that when any number 

 are collected near the same spot, they make 

 the woods resound with their clamorous 

 cries. 



PENGUIN, or PINGUIN. (Spheniscm ap- 

 tenodytcs.) The name of a remarkable group 

 of aquatic birds, exclusively found in the 

 Antarctic seas, and deriving their name from 

 their phiguidity, or excessive fatness. Their 

 feet are placed so far back, that the body is 

 quite upright when the bird is standing on 

 the ground, for which purpose the tarsus is 

 enlarged like the sole of the foot of a quad- 

 ruped. The wings are very small, and lose 

 altogether the power of raising the body in 

 the air, being covered with short, rigid, scale- 

 like feathers, disposed in regular order, in- 

 stead of having their surface extended by 

 prolonged feathers. While in the water, 

 which is their natural element, they move 

 with great alertness and rapidity ; but on 

 the land their motions are slow and awkward, 

 and, from the form of their wings, they can- 

 not fly. The female lays from one to three 

 eggs, forming a rude excavation or burrow 

 in the sand, instead of a nest, and it is only 

 during the period of incubation that they are 

 to be found on shore. The largest species is 

 the GREAT MAGELLANIC PENGUIN (Sjiht'iiin- 

 ais Magellanicus), which, although not more 

 than two feet in length, is sometimes so bulky 

 as to weigh from thirty to forty pounds. 



The KING PENGUIN (Aptenodytes Patadio- 

 nica), as described by Mr. G. Bennett, who 

 saw a colony of these birds which covered an 

 extent of thirty or forty acres, " 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 moult- 

 ing intrude itself among those which are 

 clean, it is immediately ejected from them. 

 The females hatch the eggs by keeping them 



close between their thighs; and if approached 

 during the time of incubation, move away, 

 carrying their 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 are 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 up- 

 right in their 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 landing-place." Two 

 species have been confounded under this 

 name : the species of Forster is named by 

 Mr. G. R. Gray Aptenodytes Forsteri, while 

 Pennant's, which would seem the species 

 described by Mr. Bennet, is called by Mr. 

 Gray Aptenodytes Pennantii. 



Of the habits of another species, called 

 the JACKASS PENGUIN (Eudyptes demersa), 

 Mr. Darwin gives the following account : 

 " One day, having placed myself between a 

 Penguin and the water, I was much amused 

 by watching its habits. It was a brave bird : 

 and, till reaching the sea, it regularly fought 

 and drove me backwards. Nothing less than 

 heavy blows would have stopped him ; every 

 inch gained he firmly kept, standing close 

 before me, erect and determined. When 

 thus opposed, he continually rolled his head 

 from side to side, in a very odd manner, as 

 if the power of vision only lay in the anterior 

 and basal part of each. This bird is com- 

 monly called the Jackass Penguin, from its 

 habit, while on shore, of throwing its head 

 backwards, and making a loud strange noise, 

 very like the braying of that animal ; but 

 while at sea and undisturbed, its note is very 

 deep and solemn, and is often heard in the 

 night-time. In diving, its little plumeless 

 wings are used as fins ; but on the land, as 

 front legs. When crawling (it may be said 

 on four legs) through the tussocks, or on the 

 side of a grassy cliff, it moved so very quickly 

 that it might readily have been mistaken for 

 a quadruped. When at sea, and fishing, it 

 conies to the surface, for the purpose of 

 breathing, with such a spring, and dives 

 again so instantaneously, that I defy any 

 one at first sight to be sure that it is not a fish 

 leaping for sport." 



We are told by Sir James Clark Ross, in 

 his Voyage of Discovery in the Southern and 

 Antarctic Regions, that when he was per- 

 forming the ceremony of taking possession 

 of the newly-discovered lands, since called 

 Victoria Land, in the name of Her Majesty, 

 he was surrounded by Penguins in countless 

 multitudes. These are his words : " Pos- 

 session Island is situated in lat. 71 56', and 

 long. 71 7' E., composed entirely of igneous 

 rocks, and only accessible on its western 

 side. We saw not the smallest appearance 

 of vegetation, but inconceivable myriads of 

 Penguins completely and densely covered 

 the whole surface of the island, along the 

 ledges of the precipices, and even to the 

 summits of the hills, attacking us vigorously 

 as we waded through their ranks, and peck- 

 ing at us with their sharp beaks, disputing 

 possession ; which, together with their loud 



