PALMIPEDES. 



255 



Fig. 126. — Sternum of Penguin. 



Penaruins of the southern hemisphere, vvhicli are very distinct from the Auks. As a particularly rare visitant, this 

 species is allowed a place in the British Fauna.] 



The genus of 



The Penguins {Aptenodytes, Forster) — 

 Is even less capable of flying than that of the Auks. Their little wings, covered with mere vestiges of 

 feathers, which at the first glance resemble scales ; their feet, placed farther back than in any other 



bird [the Grebes and Loons alone excepted,] 

 only support them by bearing on the tarsus, 

 which is widened like the sole of the foot of a 

 quadruped, and in which are found three bones 

 soldered together at their extremities. They 

 have a small hind toe, directed inwards, and 

 their three anterior toes are joined by an entire 

 membrane. These birds are found only in the 

 antarctic seas, never going on shore except to 

 breed. They can only reach their nests by 

 traiUng on their bellies. The difference in the 

 bill authorizes their division into three sub- 

 genera. 



The Penguins, properly so called {Ajiteno- 



dytes, Cuv.), — 



Have a long, slender, and pointed beak, the 



upper mandible a little arcuated towards the tip, 



and feathered for about a third of its length ; 



in this the nostril is placed, from which a groove extends to the tip. 



The Patagonian Penguin (Apt. patachonica, Gm.).— Size of a Goose, and slate-coloured above, white underneath, 

 with a black mark, encircled by a citron-yellow cravat. It inhabits the vicinity of the Straits of Magellan in large 

 flocks, ranging as far as New Guinea. Its flesh, although black, is eaten. 



The Gorfews {Catarrhactes, Brisson) — 

 Have a stout and pointed beak, somewhat compressed, with a rounded ridge, and tip a little arcuated ; 

 the groove which extends forward from the nostril terminates obliquely on the inferior third of its edge. 



The Crested Gorfew (Apt. chrysocoma, Gm.). — Size of a large Duck, black above, white below, and adorned with 

 a white or yellow crest oa each side of the occiput. It is found in the vicinity of the Falkland Isles and of New 

 Holland, and sometimes leaps out of the water while swimming. Deposits its eggs in a hole of the ground. 

 There are several others. 



The Spheniscans {Spheniscus, Brisson) — 

 Have a straight and compressed beak, irregularly furrowed at the base ; the tip of the upper mandible 

 hooked, and of the other truncate ; nostrils situate in the middle, and uncovered. 



The Cape Spheniscan (Apt. demersa, Gmelin). — Black above, white below, the beak brown, with a white band in 

 the middle, throat black, and a line of the same upon the breast, which is continued along each flank. It chiefly 

 inhabits the neighbourhood of the Cape, where it nestles among the rocks. [Fig. 12G represents the sternal appa- 

 ratus of this species, showing the peculiar configuration common to the group, and particularly the broad 

 scapula. The bones of the Penguins are permanently filled with marrow.] 



The family of 



LONGIPENNES 



Comprehends those Birds of the high seas, which, in consequence of their capability of pro- 

 tracted flight, are met with everywliere, [though it does not appear that the particular species 

 are more widely diffused than others]. They are known by the freedom or total absence of 

 the thumb, their very long wings, and smooth-edged beak, which in the greater number of 

 genera is liooked at the tip, and in the others simply pointed. Their inferior laryn.x has 

 only one muscle proper on each side, and the gizzard is muscular [or lax and very capacious], 

 the coeca short [or moderate]. 



The Petrels {ProceUaria, Lin.) — 

 Have the beak hooked at the tip, with its extremity appearing as though a piece bad been articulated to 



