BIllDS. SO") 



tliem at a distance, tliey look like so many children with white 

 aprons. From hence they are said to unite in themselves th« 

 qualities of men, fowls, and fishes. Like men, they are upright ; 

 like fowls, they are feathered ; and like fishes, they have fin-like 

 instruments, that beat the water before, and serve for all the pur- 

 poses of swimming-, rather than flying. 



They feed upon fish ; and seldom come ashore, except in the 

 breeding season. As the seas in that part of the world abound 

 with a variety, they seldom want food ; and their extreme fatness 

 seems a proof of the plenty in which they live. They dive with 

 great rapidity, and are voracious to a great degree. One of them, 

 described by Clusius, though but very young, would swallow an 

 entire herring at a mouthful, and often three successively before 

 it was appeased. In consequence of this gluttonous appetite, 

 their flesh is rank and fi.shy; though our sailors say, that it is 

 pretty good eating. In some the flesh is so tough, and the 

 feathers so thick, that they stand the blow of a scimitar without 

 injury. 



They are a bird of society; and, especially when they come on 

 shore, they are seen drawn up in rank and file, upon the ledge ot 

 a rock, standing together with the albatross, as if in consultation. 

 This is previous to their laying, which generally begins, in that 

 part of the world, in the month of November. Their prepara- 

 tions for laying are attended with no great trouble, as a small 

 depression in the earth, without any other nest, serves for this 

 purpose. The warmth of their feathers and the heat of their 

 bodies is such, that the progress of incubation is carried on very 

 rapidly. 



But there is a difference in the manner of this bird's nestling 

 in other countries, which I can only ascribe to the frequent dis- 

 turbances it has received from man or quadrupeds in its recesses. 

 In some places, instead of contenting itself with a superficial de- 

 pression in the earth, the penguin is found to burrow two or 

 three yards deep : in other places it is seen to forsake the level, 

 and to clamber up the ledge of a rock, where it lays its egg, and 

 hatches it in tiiat bleak exposed situation. These precautions 

 may probably have been taken, in consequence of dear-bought 

 experience. In those places where the bird fears for her own 

 safety, or that of her young, she may providently provide against 

 danger, by digging, or even by climbing ; for both which she is 



