94 The Penguins 



observed in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London, and toward the close 

 of the period the bird was always seen to be busy picking the feathers off, nearly 

 all being removed by its bill, not pulled, but pushed off. "When the moult was 

 nearly completed and only a few dried-up feathers adhered to the back and 

 upper side of the mjddle of the wings, the epidermal covering of the orange-col- 

 ored patches on the lower mandibles loosened and came off like pieces of parch- 

 ment or dry bladder." This shedding of portions of the epidermal covering is 

 well known in certain Auks and Puffins, but had not been observed previously in 

 members of this group. 



As already mentioned, when the Penguins are on land they stand erect, 

 some species even holding the neck and head stretched vertically upward. They 

 have the habit of disposing themselves in lines along the rocks or edges of the 

 ice-floes, resembling at this time long lines of soldiers. Although they are ex- 

 tremely awkward in walking, especially when hurried, they nevertheless manage 

 to get over the ground with considerable speed. Kidder, who observed them 

 on Kerguelen Island, describes the gait as follows: "No living thing that I ever 

 saw expresses so graphically a state of hurry as a Penguin, when trying to escape. 

 Its neck is stretched out, flippers whirling like the sails of a windmill, and body 

 wagging from side to side, its short legs make stumbling and frantic efforts to 

 get over the ground. There is such an expression of anxiety written all over the 

 bird; it picks itself up from every fall, and stumbles again with such an air of 

 having an arm full of bundles, that it escapes capture quite as often by the laughter 

 of the pursuer as by its own really quite considerable speed." But they are 

 preeminently birds of the sea, swimming and diving with the greatest facility, 

 coming to the surface and disappearing again with such rapidity that it is almost 

 impossible to say if it be bird or fish. The length of time that one can remain 

 under water is a little more than a minute, which is not an extraordinary accom- 

 plishment as compared with certain other birds. Their food consists entirely 

 of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, etc., which they seek in the open ocean, heed- 

 less of storm and waves, for it "must be hard weather indeed when a Penguin 

 goes in search of shelter, as he enjoys the wildest surf and loves the roaring 

 gale." 



During the nesting period they resort mainly to the wildest and most inacces- 

 sible islands and isolated rocks in the southern seas. Here they come, or at least 

 once did, in countless thousands. The nests of some of the species are placed on 

 the ground, while others nest mainly in burrows or holes among the rocks, and it 

 is said of at least the King Penguin that the egg is carried in a pouch or fold of 

 skin between the legs, being laid down only for the purpose of changing it from 

 one parent to the other. When on the ground the nests are rude affairs, consist- 

 ing of a few grasses or are simply slight depressions scratched in the earth by 

 the birds. The burrowing species of the Falkland Islands have modified their 

 habits to some extent since the advent of civilization, now making these holes 

 ten or fifteen feet long. The eggs are usually two in number, but apparently in 

 some species there is but one; they are white or greenish white in color and 

 possess a very thick shell. Both parents take part in the incubation of the eggs 



