70 Review. [isf'juiy 



Review. 



["Antarctic Penguins." By Dr. G. Murray Levick, R.N. London: William 

 Heinemann. (Through Geo. Robertson and Co. Pty. Ltd., Melbourne.)] 



This volume on the " true inhabitants " of the Antarctic regions, 

 by the zoologist of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13, 

 deserves the highest praise. It is a most important contribution 

 to ornithological literature, and at the same time charmingly 

 written. Even a person not specially interested in bird-life should 

 be able to read " Antarctic Penguins " with pleasure. The 

 author deals with the Adehe Penguin {Pygoscelis adelicB), giving 

 the results of patient observations made chiefly at Cape Adare 

 rookery, " a neck of land jutting out from the sheer and ice-bound 

 foothills of South Victoria Land northwards for a distance of 

 some twenty miles." The sides of the cape rise sheer from the 

 sea. There is no foothold save at the extreme end, " where a 

 low beach has been formed, nesthng against the steep side of the 

 cHff, which here rises almost perpendicularly to a height of over 

 1,000 feet." The first part of the book is devoted to an account 

 of the arrival of the Penguins at Cape Adare, and what takes 

 place during the fasting period. The first birds arrived on 13th 

 October ; on i6th October there were about twenty. The 

 numbers continued to increase till the rookery was crowded. 

 The nest-building is described, and the manner in which the 

 Penguins quarrel and fight, and rob each other of nesting 

 material (stones). 



Part ii. deals with the domestic life of the Adelie Penguin, 

 laying and incubation of the eggs, the bird's habits in the water, 

 their games, care of the young, and the later development of the 

 social system. Here is a sample of the author's quality : — 



"As a. band of spotless bathers returning to the rookery, their white 

 breasts and black backs glistening with a fine metallic lustre in the sunlight, 

 met a dirty and bedraggled party on its way out from the nesting ground, 

 frequently both would stop, and the clean and dirty mingle together and 

 chatter with one another for some minutes. If they were not speaking 

 words in some language of their own, their whole appearance belied them, 

 and as they stood, some in pairs, some in groups of three or more, chatter- 

 ing amicably together, it became evident that they were sociable animals, 

 glad to meet one another, and, like many men, pleased with the excuse to 

 forget for a while their duties at home, where their mates were waiting to be 

 relieved for their own spell off the nests." 



In an appendix, descriptions of the plumage and soft parts of 

 P. adelicB and of some variations in plumage are given. There 

 is a short chapter on M'Cormick's Skua Gull {Megalestris mac- 

 cormicki) and a note on Emperor Penguins {Aptenodytes forsteri). 

 The illustrations are a notable feature of the volume ; they are 

 numerous and excellent. 



The review of " A List of the Birds of Australia," by Gregory 

 M. Mathews, F.R:S.E., is unavoidably held over. 



