THE BIRDS 283 



defined tracks, leading to the rookeries, marching with much 

 solemnity one behind the other in soldierly order. 



The largest species are the King Penguin (A. pennanti) and the 

 Emperor Penguin (A.forsteri), the former being found in Kerguelen 

 Land, the Falklands and other southern islands, and the latter 

 in Victoria Land and on the pack-ice of the Antarctic seas. The 

 Emperor Penguin stands nearly three and a half feet high ; it is 

 a blackish-grey bird with a white breast, and a yellow spot on each 

 side of the head. As they are unaccustomed, from the isolation 

 of their haunts, to being hunted and persecuted by man, these 

 birds are remarkably fearless, and Antarctic explorers invading 

 their territory have found themselves objects of curiosity rather 

 than fear to the strange birds, who followed them about as if 

 they were much astonished at their appearance. The Emperor 

 Penguin lays but a single egg, and breeds during the intense cold 

 and darkness of the Antarctic winter. To prevent contact with 

 the frozen snow, the bird places its egg upon its flat, webbed feet, 

 and crouches down upon it so that it is well covered with the 

 feathers. In spite of this precaution many eggs do not hatch, and 

 the mortality amongst the young chicks is very great. 



The Cape Penguins range from western South America to 

 South Africa. They either deposit their eggs in burrows, or make 

 rough nests consisting of a pile of pebbles and rubbish, according 

 to their locality. In Australia and New Zealand the nest is usually 

 made of grass and leaves in a hollow in the rocks or a depression 

 in the ground. 



The Rock-hoppers are so called from their manner of hopping 

 from one boulder to another. The name is applied to several species 

 who have this manner of locomotion. They often form very large 

 communities and are said to be very pugnacious and thievish 

 towards one another. The Little Blue Penguin of New Zealand and 

 South Australia is a much smaller bird, not more than nineteen 

 inches in height. Its back, head and the upper side of its flippers 

 are light blue in colour, and its under parts are gleaming white. 

 The fossil remains of Penguins found in New Zealand show that 

 in prehistoric times they were a much larger race of birds, some, 

 apparently, being over six feet in height. 



The Divers of the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions and the 

 Grebes of the temperate regions are closely related, for, although 



