34 



from January to March, when it is capable of being displayed or con- 

 tracted at the will of the bird. During excitement it is enlarged, falls 

 over the breast, and exhibits the most brilliant colours, principally of 

 a vivid purple, with bright red and green spots : the colours vary in 

 intensity according to the degree of excitement. When they are 

 most brilliant, or, in other words, when the excitement is great, the 

 purple horns are usually elevated. The living specimens seen by 

 Mr. G. Bennett were procured from the province of Yunnan, bor- 

 dering on Thibet. Mr. Beale, in whose aviary at Macao they were, 

 had nbt succeeded in obtaining females of this race. Its Chinese 

 name is Tu Xou Nieu. 



Mr. G. Bennett also read a note on the habits of the King Penguin, 

 Aptenodijtes Patachonica, Gmel., as observed by him on various occa- 

 sions when in high southern latitudes. He described particularly a 

 colony of these birds, which covers an extent of thirty or forty acres, 

 at the north end of Macquarrie Island, in the South' Pacific Ocean. 

 The number of Penguins collected together in this spot is immense, 

 but it would be almost impossible to guess at it with any near ap- 

 proach to truth, as, during the whole of the day and night, 30,000 or 

 40,000 of them are continually landing, and an equal number going 

 to sea. They are arranged, when on shore, in as compact a manner 

 and in as regular ranks as a regiment of soldiers ; and are classed 

 with the greatest order, the young birds being in one situation, the 

 moulting birds in another, the sitting hens in a third, the clean birds 

 in a fourth, &c. ; and so strictly do birds in similar condition congre- 

 gate, that should a bird that is moulting intrude itself among those 

 which are clean, it is immediately ejected from among them. 



The females hatch the eggs by keeping them close between their 

 thighs ; and, if approached during the time of incubation, move away, 

 carrying the eggs with them. At this time the male bird goes to sea 

 and collects food for the female, which becomes very fat. After the 

 young is hatched, both parents go to sea, and bring home food for 

 it ; it soon becomes so fat as scarcely to be able to walk, the old 

 birds getting very thin. They sit quite upright in their roosting- 

 places, and walk in the erect position until they arrive at the beach, 

 when they throw themselves on their breasts, in order to encounter 

 the very heavy sea met with at their landing-place. 



Although the appearance of Pewguins generally indicates the neigh- 

 bourhood of land, Mr. G. Bennett cited several instances of their 

 occurrence at a considerable distance from any known land. 



The Secretary announced the recent addition to the Menagerie of 

 the Perdix sphenura, Gray ; the Philippine Quail, Coturnix Sinensis, 

 Cuv. ; and the Hemipodius DussumierijTemm,} : all presented to the 

 Society by John Russel Reeves, Esq., of Canton. He added, that a 

 second male specimen of the Reeves's Pheasant, Phasianus veneratus, 

 Temm., had also been sent to the Menagerie by John Reeves, Esq. 

 A pair of the middle tail-feathers of the last-named bird, measuring 

 upwards of five feet in length, and presented by Wm. Craggs, Esq., 

 were exhibited. 



