60 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



Eudyptula, on account of several important anatomical characters, among which is 

 the absence of a tracheal septum. 



The South African species, S. demersus, is one of the oldest known members of the 

 order. It is slate-colored above, white underneath ; a face-mask, offset from the rest of 

 head by a broad white band, is blackish, and so is a narrow collar which continues 

 down along the sides of the body, a dark stripe separated from the dark color of the 

 back by a continuation of the white band of the head. 



Professor Moseley, of the 'Challenger' expedition, gives the following account of a 

 visit to a rookery of this bird at Seal Island, Cape of Good Hope. "It is a mere shel- 

 ving rock, on which it is only possible to land on very favorable occasions. The birds 

 here nested on the open rock, which was fully exposed to the burning sun and occa- 

 sional rain. There was not a blade of grass on the rock, but it was covered with 

 guano, with little pools of filthy green water. The birds nested under big stones^ 

 wherever there was place for them. Most of the nests were, however, quite in the 

 open. The nests were formed of small stones and shells of a Balanus, of which there 

 were heaps washed up by the surf, and of old bits of wood, nails, and bits of rope, 

 picked up about the ruins of a hut which were rotting on the island, together with an 

 old sail, some boat's spars, and bags of guano, evidently left behind by guano-seekers. 

 The object of thus making the nest is no doubt to some extent to secure drainage in 

 case of rain, and to keep the eggs out of water washing over the rocks ; but the birds 

 evidently have a sort of magpie-like delight in curiosities. Spheniscus magellanicus y 

 at the Falkland Islands, similarly collects variously colored pebbles at the mouth of its 

 burrow. Two pairs of the birds had built inside the ruins of the hut. 



" All the birds fought furiously, and were very hard to kill. They make a noise 

 very like the braying of donkeys, hence their name ; they do not hop, but run or wad- 

 dle. They do not leap out of the water like the crested penguin, when swimming, but 

 merely come to the surface and sit there like ducks for a while, and dive again." 



A nearly allied but quite distinct species, Spheniscus magellanicus, easily recog- 

 nized by the double black band across the breast, is found at the southern end of 

 South America, and is particularly well known from the Falkland Islands and South 

 Georgia. An extremely interesting account of this species, which also is known as the 

 jackass penguin, and its habits at the latter locality, was published last year by Dr. Will, 

 who, during a year's sojourn at the German polar station there, 1882-'83, enjoyed un- 

 usual opportunities for the study of these birds. We translate his account in full, as 

 it probably is the most complete description of the habits of birds the home of which 

 is so remote from regularly inhabited localities. 



"Much more droll than the ferocious looking 'rock-hopper' and the solemn king 

 penguin, is the jackass penguin, which in size (about 70 cm.) agrees with the former. 



" The area covered by our excursions embraced six colonies, one of which was occu- 

 pied by thousand of penguins ; these, together with the frequent occurrence of these 

 animals on the beach at the station, afforded good opportunity for studying thoroughly 

 these queer birds, so singularly adapted for aquatic life. 



" At the beginning of October the penguins were almost exclusively seen on the 

 beach, crowded together and taking it easy after the copious meal, some of them in a 

 standing position, others laying down with the head under one of the wings. Before 

 long, however, they became more lively, and, tottering over the snowy slopes in long 

 rows, went in search of the higher parts of the valleys opening into the bay, apparently 

 most pleased with grass-clad and flat ground. 



