212 . BIRD WATER TRESPASSERS. 



downy ball of fat. No bird appears to have any par- 

 ticular nest, but there is a sort of general nest, com- 

 posed of loose sticks. 



Just as the old sailor could never see any use in 

 land except to furnish ships, spars, rigging, and pro- 

 visions, so the Penguin seems to think that but for 

 the necessity of egg hatching, the land is rather a 

 nuisance than otherwise. 



Indeed, Mr. Gr. Bennett, to whom we are indebted 

 for much of our knowledge respecting these remarkable 

 birds, has met with them at sea, not only out of sight 

 of land, but far from any land known to geographers. 

 Now, when it is remembered that the bird cannot fly 

 an inch, and that all that distance must be traversed 

 by swimming, the natatory powers of the Penguin are 

 very strikingly shown. Indeed, the seal itself is not 

 more at ease in the water than is the Penguin. 



The analogy between the marine mammal and bird 

 is further shown by the fact that their food is of a 

 similar character, and obtained in the same way, 

 namely, by fair chase; and it is remarkable that 

 in each case, the trespasser upon the water is superior 

 in speed and agility to the rightful denizens thereof. 

 But, whereas the food of the seal consists mostly of 

 fish, that of the Penguin is found^ to consist almost 

 entirely of cuttles, the indigestible beaks of which are 

 found in the rapidly digesting stomachs of the birds. 

 I may here remark that similar remains have been 

 found within the fossil skeletons of extinct reptiles of 

 the ancient world, showing that they also fed upon 

 cuttles, and, like the Penguins, could not digest the 

 beaks, nor the scales of sundry fishes which were 



