The Zoologist — December, 1874. 4263 



T give in my adhesion to the last or "hfe school"; and therefore the 

 acquisition and exhibition of a living penguin was a great treat, a red-letter 

 day in my Natural-History calendar ; in a word, to me it was a joy un- 

 speakable. When I first saw him he was standing almost erect, as, according 

 to books, penguins ought to stand : he was in the inner division of his com- 

 partment in the Eastern Aviary, and was making a tripod of himself, using 

 his stumpy tail as a third leg : he had a most disconsolate air, — much that 

 of a persecuted puppy compelled against his will to stand on his hind legs, — 

 his fore legs, or wings, or flappers, dangling helplessly on either side : on a 

 careful examination I found he was resting on the entire length of his tarsi, 

 but I have since seen him standing on his feet only, so that I must decline 

 to lay down any law as to what he ought to do. While I was waiting for him 

 to solve the question he fell plump down on his stomach, and immediately 

 commenced swimming with his flappers in such a violent manner that 

 I thought he must have broken or injured them, seeing that swimming in 

 the air or on the unyielding surface of his prison-house, was, to say the 

 least, an unsatisfactory and unreraunerative mode of progression. On the 

 occasion of my next call (it was on the 31st of October), he received me 

 in the pelican's enclosure. He was standing on the edge of the circular 

 tank in which the pehcans daily exhibit their piscatory feats to a select but 

 highly appreciative audience. His manner now evinced great prostration 

 of strength ; his eyes were half-closed, and that laboured rhythmical panting 

 which all bird-keepers recognise as the infallible precursor of approaching 

 dissolution was unmistakably present. But the end was not so very near 

 after aU : life was still vigorous within him ; for almost as soon as he saw 

 the keeper Church, who entered with me, bringing a cold collation of 

 living gudgeon, he once more fell plump on his stomach, and then, with 

 a very seal-like movement, jerked and wriggled himself into the water. 

 Here he seemed perfectly at home : on dry land he was evidently out 

 of his element, wretched, helpless, dejected, ill, dying; in the water, 

 vigorous, full of life, activity, and apparent health. I must confess 

 I was disappointed not to see him turn on his back like a seal, but 

 there is no occasion for this ; he need not, like a seal, be ever on 

 the look out for enemies by land, and therefore his eyes are iu the usual 

 bird-position. Directly he had launched himself into the water he ceased 

 in all appearance to be a bird ; his head and neck assumed the similitude 

 of the same parts in some long-necked water-tortoise, possessing the same 

 perfect freedom of motion, turning right or left as the frightened little fishes 

 thrown in for his special delectation darted in either direction. It was 

 evident he pursued them with wide-open eyes, for he followed them with 

 precision and skill, notwithstanding the somewhat cloudy condition of 

 the water : he caught them with ease and dexterity, sometimes by the 

 tail, but generally crosswise with the beak, and if so, the position was 



