PENGUINS 319 



however, one bird makes a start, the rest soon follow ; and when once in the water 

 they disport themselves like dolphins, for which they might easily be mistaken. 

 When tired of such sports, they return to the ice, from which they can be driven 

 only with difficulty. 



The Adelia penguin takes its name from Adelie-land, where it was discovered 

 in the year 1841 ; but it appears to range completely round the southern pole, its 

 northern limit being formed approximately by 60" S. latitude. In disposition 

 these birds display remarkable curiosity, coming to inspect any object that 

 appears strange to them. In doing so they advance in an irregular manner, 

 turning to the right or left in succession, until they finally reach the person or 

 object which has attracted their attention, when they halt and make a thorough 

 inspection, uttering low, plaintive cries, and slowly moving their paddle-like 

 wings. When undisturbed and on level ground, they walk on their feet in a 

 vertical position with their heads stretched forwards, and their wings either slightly 

 expanded or hanging limply down their sides. But when frightened or in a 

 hurry, they fall on their bellies and push themselves along in that position by 

 their legs, somewhat after the fashion of the divers. In making an ascent, both 

 wings and legs are made use of, but in descending a slope these birds allow them- 

 selves simply to slide down, merely using their wings to aid in maintaining their 

 balance. If pursued while making such a descent, they move so swiftly that it 

 is difficult to catch them. They feed chiefly on the minute crustaceans of the 

 genus Ewphausia which swarm on the borders of the pack-ice. The breeding- 

 season commences rather before the middle of November, when the females lay 

 two, or rarely three, eggs, which are incubated in turns by both sexes. If the first 

 clutch be removed, the female will generally lay two or three more, but these are 

 small, and may be devoid of yolks. When they are approached, the sitting birds 

 do not forsake their charge, but content themselves with pecking and hissing at 

 the intruders. As there may be something like three thousand birds in a colony, 

 these eggs afford a welcome supply of food to explorers who have braved the 

 hardships and privations of the long Antarctic winter. 



In the Falklands the Adelia penguin is replaced by the gentu penguin 

 (P. tamiata). In several districts penguins are slaughtered wholesale for the sake 

 of their oil. As regards the Antarctic species, which were at that time unmolested, 

 the naturalist to the Discovery expedition was of opinion that the emperor penguin 

 is secure from attack during the breeding-season, although at other times of the 

 year its destruction could be encompassed, as could that of the Adelia penguin at 

 all seasons. 



According to a report on the remains of extinct fossil Vertebrata obtained 

 during the Swedish Antarctic expedition at Seymour Island, in the South 

 Shetland group, the living emperor penguin is a mere dwarf in comparison with 

 its early Tertiary predecessors. One of these, Ani\vr(ypomis nordenshiolcli, stood 

 apparently about six feet in height ; while a species {Palceeadyptes antarcticus) 

 described many years previously from early Tertiary strata in New Zealand was prob- 

 ably at least five feet in height. Still more interesting is the fact that the Seymour 

 Island giant penguin possessed wings of far greater relative length and of a less 

 modified type than those of its existing descendants ; very similar conditions also 



