QA TuLLOCH, Macquarie Island Penguins. [2nd o'ct. 



first a small, infertile egg, and the second a fertile one. A peculiar 

 thing I noticed with the Rock-hoppers was that, where we robbed 

 them of their first egg, two more were laid, with a result that about 

 75 per cent, of them hatched two chicks instead of one. 



The Royal Penguins are the species killed for oil. They are 

 chosen because they exist in such large numbers, huddled together 

 in great rookeries. One rookery at the south end has an area 

 of over 16J acres, while another at The Nuggets covers over 

 10 acres. They are much the same as the others in habits, but 

 they have a yellow crest something like a Cockatoo. They lay a 

 very large egg in proportion to their size. The eggs are pear-shaped, 

 and, as with the Victorias and Rock-hoppers, a fertile and an in- 

 fertile egg are laid. They usually form their rookery near a 

 running stream, and use it as a means of getting to and from the 

 rookery. At The Nuggets they march up and down with almost 

 military precision, but, once in the rookery, quite different con- 

 ditions obtain. Here there are squabbles all day long. The 

 males get away from their mates, and fights (where beaks and 

 flappers are freely used) are continually taking place. They 

 migrate from April to the end of September, and commence laying 

 in October. 



The Victorias are the smallest Penguins on the island, but they 

 are the most ferocious, and come second as regards numbers. 

 They are marked like the Royals, with black back, white front, 

 and a yellow crest, but the crest spreads out laterally. When 

 first disturbed, they always show fight, but soon get reconciled, 

 and will allow one to stroke them in the rookeries. They migrate 

 in May, return in October, and commence laying in the middle 

 of November. The period of incubation for all the species, 

 except the King, is about five weeks. The Victoria Penguins are 

 not particular about being near running streams, but seem to 

 prefer to gei shelter under the cliffs, where they make a rough 

 nest of tussock or anything which happens to be in the im- 

 mediate surroundings. 



The same rookeries are used year after year by the different 

 species. They usually rear one chicken, and it is fed by placing 

 its beak inside that of its parent, where the food is regurgitated 

 from the stomach of the latter. The male assists both in the 

 hatching and bringing up of the young. 



The way the Penguins are slaughtered for oil should be inter- 

 esting to all bird observers. At present — or, at least, when I 

 left the island in December, 1915 — the oil industry was only being 

 carried on at one place — The Nuggets rookery. For two seasons 

 prior to December, 1915, the works were abandoned, but a new 

 company was formed in 1915 to exploit the oil industry in the 

 southern seas, and whether it will restrict its operations to the 

 one place or not I cannot say ; but in all probability it will extend 

 the works to the south end. 



It is almost impossible to estimate the number of birds on the 

 island ; but in the one rookery in the south end there are at least 



