ADELIE PENGUIN—LEVICK. 63 
pilfering of neighbours, any lack of vigilance on the part of their occupants being at 
once noted and taken full advantage of, and sometimes, though rarely, weak characters 
allow their more aggressive fellows to huff them of their stones before their very eyes, 
without offering any resistance. As fast as they acquire stones and place them in 
position, these are taken from them, the actual floor on which the hen sits being the 
only portion of their home which remains permanent, whilst a more aggressive 
neighbour sits upon a noble pile, not a pebble of which is ever stolen. 
If watch is kept on a colony busily engaged in building their nests, some of the 
cocks are seen to make fairly long journeys for stones, working steadily forth to and 
back from some patch of loose ground where building material is to be had. 
Occasionally, however, a cock may be seen to steal a// his stones from neighbouring 
nests, craftily making his way among these until he sees his chance, when he quickly 
grabs a pebble, and triumphantly returns to his mate with the spoil in his beak. Again 
and again he will return to the same nest, of which most probably the cock is away on 
a similar quest, while the hen has all her attention taken up in pecking at the 
head of the lady sitting nearest to her. 
Here, then, are seen, side by side, a cock who prefers the quieter but more 
laborious method of gathering his own material, and another who chooses the more 
exciting but easier method of stealing it. The latter, of course, is not always 
successful, being occasionally caught in the act, when he may he seen tearing off 
with an irate bird in pursuit, often tripping up over the stones and other inequalities 
of the ground, and getting a good hammering when caught. In a small colony 
which I had under special observation there was a particular cock who was an 
inveterate thief. I think that every stone on his nest had been stolen from 
neighbours. As he slunk about the colony, his guilty conscience made him smooth 
his feathers close against his skin, and this made him look much smaller than the 
other birds, who seemed to know him, as most of them aimed a peck at him as he 
passed their nests. 
General aggressiveness is a quality found in different degrees in different 
individuals. 
Close to the path from our hut to the meteorological screen a good many 
couples had made their nests, and consequently our meteorologist passed them many 
times a day on his way to take his observations. There was one particular cock 
that invariably flew at him, whenever he happened to be at the nest, though the 
others took little or no notice when they were passed. 
When making observations of the incubative period of the eggs, and other 
matters, there were certain nests I visited twice in each twenty-four hours, always 
gently lifting the hen for a moment to examine the nest beneath her. 
Some of the hens pecked and swore at me savagely, seeming never to get used 
to the operation, while others minded scarcely at all. 
One hen whose chick I removed at intervals in order to weigh it, instead of 
K 
