ADELIE PENGUIN—LEVICK. 5 
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THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ADELIE PENGUIN 
(Pygoscelis adeliae). 
1—ARRIVAL AT THE ROOKERY. 
On October 13th, 1911, one Adélie Penguin was seen on the rookery at Cape Adare. 
As a blizzard came on then, with thick drift, nothing more could be seen until the next 
day, when no birds were visible. 
On October 15th two were walking about the beach: they were separate in the 
forenoon, but later they kept company, and hung about the south-east corner of the 
rookery, under the cliff, where they were sheltered from the cold wind that was blowing. 
On October 16th, at 11 am., about twenty penguins arrived, all remaining very 
inactive, and quietly sitting or walking about. By 4 p.m. their numbers had increased 
to about a hundred, and for the most part they still squatted listlessly about the 
rookery. They were well scattered, some being solitary, and others in small groups, 
but all keeping to the hollows and making no attempt to start work on the nesting sites 
up on the knolls. There was no sign of any pairing taking place. All the birds were 
in fine plumage and condition. 
During the night of October 16th the number of arrivals increased greatly, so that 
on the morning of the 17th there was a thin sprinkling scattered over the rookery, a 
few in pairs or threes, but most in groups of a dozen or more, and all were very 
phlegmatic,.lying on their breasts with outstretched beaks, apparently asleep, and still 
away from the nesting sites. 
During October 17th the arrivals became very much more frequent, and soon, as 
we looked across the sea-ice to the northwards, we could see a long line of Adélies 
approaching, tailing out in snake-like fashion, as far as the horizon (Pl. 1). On this 
date some few birds took possession of old nests on the higher grounds. They merely 
squatted in these, making no attempt to repair them in any way, and afterwards I| 
found that they were unmated hens, waiting for mates to come to them, and that this 
was the usual custom among them. 
About 9 p.m. a light snowstorm came on, and those few who had taken possession 
of nests left them to join the other birds in the hollows. One group, which had 
arrived at the ice-foot in the morning, halted on the sea-ice, without ascending the little 
slope leading to the rookery, and stayed there all day. 
From their general appearance and behaviour it was evident that some of the 
penguins were fatigued after their long journey, and although when the weather cleared 
on October 18th a fair number paired and started to build nests, the great majority still 
sat quietly about. 
The first birds to build all took their stones from old nests, as so many lay 
unoccupied at this time. 
