breeding season is so thick that a lantern burns in it with a dull yellow flame, and 

 the act of breathing, at least to a human, is a difficult one. Out of the sixty odd 

 clutches only two sets were in formed nests, the remainder being all laid at ran- 

 dom in the mud of the cave floor — in some cases they were all but buried — and 

 this extreme wetness was probably the cause of the small number of young ones 

 during the 1919 season. 



The 1920 season was, however, about three weeks later than the previous 

 one, and was, moreover, much drier, and in all the nests save about half a dozen, 

 there were two chicks, and in one nest, a built one, I observed three. Two 

 nests formed of about two handfuls of short, mud-encrusted twigs were noted 

 during both seasons, and there is a probability that they were the nests of the 

 same couples, as they were located in the same part of the cave on both occasions. 

 Similar nesting material is very plentiful at the mouth of the cave, but the 

 penguins do not make use of it. 



As in the Yellow-eyed Penguin, the chick when hatched is absolutely 

 helpless, and clad in a very scanty coat of down, dull sooty black on the upper 

 surface and on the throat and chin, and dirty white on the breast and abdomen. 

 Growth is extremely rapid at first, and the down grows with the bird, so that at 

 six to eight weeks, a young one appears far larger than an adult. At hatching, 

 the down is less than an inch on the back; and on the head, where it is shortest, 

 it is about one-third of an inch. The feathers begin to appear during the seventh 

 week, when they are developed in the following order: Firstly, the tail feathers; 

 then in narrow bands from the tail up the back to the shoulders, followed by a 

 return to the lower part of the abdomen, and a gradual rising to the breast. The 

 neck then feathers very rapidly, but the head is slow, and the last body feathers 

 to be taken on are those on the tips of the flippers, — and then, finally, the crest, 

 which is at first a very pale yellow, o ] sometimes even white. 



At about five weeks the chicks commence to wander about inside the 

 cave, and at between twelve and fourteen weeks are fully grown, and ready to 

 start in life on their own. It is interesting to observe the growing intelligence 

 of these birds. To the best of my belief, the chicks when hatched are blind, as 

 they take no notice whatever of an intruder. After a week or ten days, when 

 approached, they whimper and squeal and endeavour to sit up; and at a month 

 old they will snap at the hand if touched. But after six weeks, when approached, 

 they slowly turn their white breast to the dark wall of the cave, and by remaining 

 quiet and motionless try to avoid notice. The full-grown young ones refrain 

 from entering the water until driven by the adults, or until compelled by hunger 

 to search for food, but a chick of about four weeks taken as a specimen was 

 washed in a tub to remove the cave mud, and even at that early age could swim 

 and dive like an adult. 



Although this cave was known some forty years ago, and a few notes 

 were made about the inmates by the Austrian naturalist, Reischek, it was not 

 known until the results of my observations were published (Proceedings of the 

 Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union) that these birds are in the habit of 

 nesting twice a year. In 1919, the first chicks were hatched on August 14th, 

 and, allowing plenty of time for the arrival of the more tardy young, all the 

 chicks should have been fully grown by the end of November. This, in fact, 

 was the case, for on November 27th the cave was found to be deserted. Again, 

 later, on December 8th, it was deserted, but when passing on the 20th the loud 

 hurried screaming calls of penguins were heard, and upon investigating I saw 

 about a score of old birds and a dozen or so sets of eggs. The chicks began to 

 appear after January 21st, so I judge the eggs to have been laid about December 

 17th. It has been suggested that these nesting birds were early hatched, that 

 is August young ones, but it is extremely doubtful if any penguin lays under 

 twelve months, and, moreover, the birds were of adult appearance, with power- 

 fully developed bills and bluish flesh-coloured feet. In the young of the first 

 year the feet are a livid white. 



Confused at times with the Crested Penguin is a slightly larger species, 

 known correctly as the Thick-billed Penguin. This bird averages twenty-eight 



19 



