SWIMMING BIRDS. 



461 



the rocks. Puffins are found in great numbers on our northern 

 shores. 



WHIMPER 



FIG. 389. PUFFIN. 



The Penguins, properly so called (Alca), have the bill elongated 

 like the blade of a knife, and covered with feathers as far as the 

 nostrils. Their wings are so decidedly too small to sustain their 

 weight that they never fly at all. 



The manner in which they feed their young is curious and rather 

 amusing. The old bird gets on a little eminence and makes a great 

 noise, between quacking and .braying, holding its head up in the air, 

 as if it was haranguing the penguinary, while the young one stands 

 close to it, but a little lower. The old bird having continued its 

 clatter for about a minute, puts its head down, and opens its mouth 

 widely, into which the young one thrusts its head and appears to 

 suck from the throat of its mother for a minute or two, after which 

 the clatter is repeated, and the young one fed again : this continues 

 for about ten minutes. ^DARWIN. 



The Common Penguins (Alca torda and pica) are 

 about the size of ducks, while the Great Penguin 

 (Alca impennis) equals that of a goose.* The latter 

 lays but a single egg, which is spotted with purple. 



* Perhaps we ought rather to say equalled that of a goose, for 

 although a few years ago these birds were sufficiently common, such 

 has been the relentless warfare carried on against them that the 

 species is believed by ornithologists to be now totally extinct. ^ 



