THE CORMORANT THE PENGUIN. 



65 



FALKLAND ISLANDS. 



sometimes changing its color ; it thus proceeded till, having 

 gained a deeper part, it darted away, leaving a dusky train 

 of ink to hide the hole into which it had crawled. While 

 looking for marine animals, with my head about two feet 

 above the rocky shore, I was more than once saluted by a 

 jet of water, accompanied by a slight grating noise. At first 

 I could not think what it was, but afterward I found out 

 that it was this cuttle-fish, which, though concealed in a hole, 

 thus often led me to its discovery. From the difficulty which 

 these animals have in carrying their heads, they cannot crawl 

 with ease when placed on the ground. 



THE CORMORANT THE PENGUIN. 



ONE day, in the Falkland islands, I observed a cormorant 

 playing with a fish which it had caught. Eight times suc- 

 cessively the bird let its prey 

 go, then dived after it, and al- 

 though in deep water, brought 

 it each time to the surface. In 

 the Zoological Gardens I have 

 seen the otter treat a fish in the 

 same manner, much as a cat does 

 a mouse : I do not know of any 

 other instance where Dame Nat- 

 ure seems so intentionally cruel. 

 Another day, having placed my- 

 self between a penguin (Apten- 

 odytes demersa) and the water, 



5 



THE CORMORANT. 



