ADELIE PENGUINS 



direction. Crowds of young Adelies were to be 

 seen on the pebbly beach below their rookery, 

 much of the ice having disappeared at this late 

 season, leaving bare patches of shingle which were 

 very suitable for the first swimming lesson. 



Many old birds paddled in for a short distance, 

 and crouching in a few inches of water, splashed 

 about with their flippers to give the youngsters 

 a lead. Some of the latter needed little encourage- 

 ment, and took readily to the strange element, very 

 soon swimming about in deep water, but others 

 seemed more timid, and these latter were urged in 

 every possible way by the old birds, some of whom 

 could be seen walking in and out of the water, and 

 so doing what they could to give their charges 

 confidence. 



In this duty one or two old birds might be seen 

 with a little crowd of youngsters, so that evidently 

 the social instincts which gave rise to the creche 

 system in the first place were extended to the 

 tuition of the young and thus to their preparation 

 for the journey north. 



Up in the rookery, fully fledged youngsters could 

 be seen clamouring in vain for food, the old birds 

 resolutely refusing to feed them now that they 

 were able to forage for themselves. The adults 

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