260 cassell's book of birds. 



our boats with geological specimens and Penguins." Bennett gives similar testimony as to the hosts 

 o?" these birds occupying the north end of Macquarie Island in the South Pacific Ocean, where we 

 are told they occupy a space of about thirty or forty acres. " The number of Penguins collected 

 together in this spot is immense, but it would be impossible to guess at it with any near approach to 

 truth, as during the whole 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 a similar condition congr.gate, that should a bird that is 

 moulting intrude itself upon those that 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 egg is hatched, both parents go 

 to sea and bring home food for it ; it soon becomes so fat as to be scarcely able to walk, the old 

 birds getting very thin. The young, until nearly full grown, are covered with a coat of long down. 



THE KING PENGUIN. 



The King Penguin (Aptmodytes Patagonica, and A. Pcnnantii) is the representative of a group 

 conspicuous for their size, and distinguishable by the following characters : — Their beak is longer than 

 the head, thin, straight, but bent downwards at its apex. The upper mandible is furrowed along its 

 whole length, while the lower one is covered with a smooth bare skin. The legs, which are short, 

 thick, and placed quite at the hinder part of the body, are covered with feathers almost to the toes, 

 three of which are united by a broad web. The short compact plumage is black upon the head and 

 throat, and bright dark greyish blue on the back and hinder part of the neck ; the belly is white, and 

 breast yellow. A bright lemon-yellow stripe commences behind the eyes, and passes along the side of 

 the neck under the chin, where it unites ; the scale-like wings are dark grey ; the beak is black at its 

 base, but towards its apex and on the lower mandible yellow ; the scaly foot is dark brown. This 

 species is above three feet long, and weighs above thirty pounds. The King Penguin inhabits the 

 seas in the vicinity of Tierra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands, and New Georgia, and during the 

 breeding season is very common on the coasts of Patagonia, but it is probable that all the species 

 migrate to considerable distances. 



On the coasts of Patagonia, according to Gray, two very similar species have been confounded 

 under the name of A. Patachonica, the "Emperor" and the "King," he has therefore called the Emperor 

 Penguin A. Facderi and the King A. Pennantii. The following graphic account of the manners of 

 A. Faceteri observed by Weddell in the Island of South Georgia is given by him in his " Voyage to the 

 South Pole." " In pride these birds are not surpassed even by the Peacock, to which, in beauty of 

 plumage, they are indeed very little inferior. During the time of moulting, they seem to repel each 

 other with disgust, on account of the ragged state of their coats, but as they arrive at the maximum of 

 splendour they re-assemble, and no one who has not completed his plumage is allowed to enter the 

 community. Their habit of frequently looking down their front and sides, in order to contemplate the 

 perfection of their superior brilliancy, and to remove any speck that might sully it, is truly amusing to 

 an observer. During the time of hatching, the male is remarkably assiduous, so that when the hen 

 has occasion to go off to feed or wash, the egg is transported to him, which is done by placing their 

 toes together, and rolling it from one to the other, using their beaks to place it properly. The hen 

 keeps charge of her young nearly a year, and in teaching them to swim has frequently to use some 

 artifice, for when the young one refuses to take to the water, she entices it to the side of a rock and 



