67 | Vol. xxxix. 
days, the birds taking turns in incubating. Not uatil the 
eggs, two in number, are laid does either bird go to feed, 
but when these have appeared one of the pair goes off to 
the water for this purpose, staying away from 7 to 10 days 
at a time, after which it returns to relieve the other, who 
then goes off for a similar period. When the chicks are 
hatched the parents relieve one another at more frequent 
intervals, for then commences the serious work of procuring 
food for their always hungry offspring. The food of these 
Penguins consists entirely of EHuphausia, which abounds in 
these waters, and those birds which nest at a distance from the 
water have to take long journeys daily to procure sufficient. 
On their return from fishing they are so loaded with food that 
they are sometimes unable to reach the nest without dis- 
gorging it on the way, and when this happens, as they never 
pick it up again, they have to return to the water for another 
catch. 
McCormack’s Skua is numerous in these latitudes and 
any unguarded egg or young chick is promptly preyed upon, 
but the chief enemy the Penguins have is the Leopard-Seal 
(Hydrurga leptonyx) which lurks beneath the ledges of the 
ice-foot in order to capture the Penguins as they take to 
the water. 
The rate of growth of the young Penguins is extremely 
rapid. A chick when hatched weighed 3 ounces, at five days 
old it weighed 13 ounces, and at 12 days 37°75 ounces. 
When the chicks are about a fortnight old a change takes 
place in the social arrangements of the rookery, and, in place 
of the individual care bestowed by each couple upon their 
own offspring, the chicks are gradually massed into small 
groups or créches, each group being guarded by a few birds 
who keep a careful look-out to prevent their charges straying 
and so falling a prey to the ever-watchful Skuas, while the 
rest of the parents go off to the water to procure food. 
The remarkable habit of these Penguins of “ drilling” in 
large masses and perfect order was described, ag was that of 
playing a regular game of “ touch last.” 
