4 3 NATATORES. 



est thief of all. Three species are found in the Falkland Is- 

 lands. Two of these, the King Penguin and the MACARONI, A. 

 chrysocome, (Golden-haired or feathered,) deposit their eggs in 

 these rookeries. The Jackass Penguin, A. demersa, (Lat. from 

 demergo, to plunge in,) which is the third species, has its English 

 name from the horrible brayings which it sets up at night. This 

 makes its nest in burrows on downs or sandy plains, and does 

 not appear to take invasion so quietly as the other species. 



H. T. Cheever, in his "Island World of the Pacific," when 

 referring to his landing on the Falkland Islands, says : " What 

 was our surprise to find what we had thought a facing of white 

 stones, to be innumerable Penguins, standing erect and in the 

 rank and file of battle array, upon the declivity of the rocks, 

 and occupying at least two acres, in dense columns, away, back 

 to the moss and grass. On every out-jutting angle or hollow, 

 there was a dusky nest with a bird sitting upon it, and so unac- 

 quainted with man that we could climb up and lay hands upon 

 them before they would move." He continues : " To those who 

 have never seen a picture of a Penguin, it would be impossible 

 to convey an idea, by description, of this odd amphibious crea- 

 ture. It has the head, bill, and two web- feet of a bird, and 

 stands erect on land, sometimes two and a half and three feet in 

 height. They have no wings nor proper feathers, but two fins 

 or flippers, like the seal. Their motion on land is by successive 

 hops in the most awkward manner conceivable. When going 

 down a declivity, the center of gravity is often thrown too far 

 forward, and away they tumble, and scramble, and roll over, 

 until they get to the sea, in which they dive and swim with great 

 swiftness. They are often seen singly, or two and three together, 

 far out at sea. Their cry or bark is like the inarticulate human 

 voice ; and sounding, as it often does, from the surface of the 

 ocean like the cry of a man in distress, it startles and appals 

 one." 



The largest species of the Patagonian Penguins is said to be four 

 feet and a quarter in length, and to weigh forty pounds. When sit- 

 ting or attempting to walk, they have been compared to a dog 

 that has been taught to sit up and move in a minuet. Their 

 short legs drive the body in progression from side to side, and 

 were they not assisted by their flipper-like wings, they could 

 scarcely move faster than a tortoise. This awkward make of 

 the legs, which so disqualifies them for living on the land, ad- 

 mirably adapts them for life on the water, inasmuch as they serve 

 for propellers, and being placed so far behind the moving body, 

 and worked the more swiftly for being short, they push forward 



