Q2 TvLhOCH, Macquarie Island Penguins. [and'oct. 



Macquaric Island Penguins. 



By a. Tulloch, Officer in Charge of the Mawson Wireless 

 Station, Macquarie Island. 



Macquarie Island, situated in lat. 54° 30' S. and 158° 57' E. 

 long., is one of the stormiest regions in the world. It is 22 miles 

 long, and averages 3 miles in width. The main island is a long 

 plateau, ranging from 500 to 800 feet in height, with peaks rimning 

 up to 1,980 feet. The island was first discovered in 1810, and 

 most of the Antarctic expeditions have called there on their way 

 to the south, but very little scientific work was carried out there 

 until Sir Douglas Mawson's party was landed in December, 1911. 

 On the return of his expedition the meteorological work was 

 carried on for a further period of two years by the Commonwealth 

 Government, in conjunction with the New Zealand Government, 

 and a sjmopsis of the weather conditions was sent daily by wire- 

 less to the meteorologists for New Zealand and the Common- 

 wealth respectively. 



Macquarie Island may be considered the home of the Penguins. 

 On walking round the island one is astounded at the number of 

 vast rookeries to be met with. These stately birds are to be 

 found in millions along the beaches, on the slopes, and on the 

 south we even came across one rookery on the top of the cliffs, 

 at least 600 feet above sea-level. Why these birds wend their 

 way up the cliffs year after year is a mystery to me. It has been 

 suggested that the island was at one time much smaller, and the 

 birds then formed their rookery near the water's edge, and, as 

 the land has risen above sea-level, these conservative birds have 

 still kept their original place of habitation. Again, if we take 

 the theory that Macquarie Island is part of a vast continent, 

 supposed at one time to be connected with Australasia, it upsets 

 the previous theory. We do know that the rookery is still there, 

 high above the sea, and the way up is so rugged that we found it 

 impossible to walk up ; so that how this rookery originated is 

 still a matter of conjecture. 



There are four different species of Penguins to be found on the 

 island — the King {Aptenodytes patagonica). Rock-hopper {Pygoscelis 

 papua). Royal {Catarrhacies schlegeli), and Victoria Penguins 

 {Catarrhactes pachyrhynchus). Taking them in order of size, and, 

 I think, importance, the Kings come first. They are magnificent 

 birds, standing about 3 feet 6 inches high, and weighing about 

 30 lbs. The plumage is of a bluish-grey on the back, with white 

 fronts, black heads, and a brilliant yeUow or gold-coloured band 

 on each side of the neck. With their white fronts they resemble 

 men in evening dress, and their stately carriage aptly earns for 

 them their name. About 20 years ago these birds were ruthlessly 

 slaughtered by the sealing parties. It is quite apparent that they 

 have not yet recovered from the effects, and now there is only 

 one rookery left on the island. It is situated at Lusitania Bay, 

 on the south-east of the island, where there are from 6,000 to 



