Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlviii. (1904), No. !:53. 13 



numerous. They swarmed everywhere, and were so fear- 

 less that I had to push them on one side with my foot to 

 photograph a group successfully. On walking slowly 

 through these birds, one of them, with more courage than 

 discretion, would attempt to dispute the right of way, and 

 make a vicious peck at one's legs. But these assaults 

 were soon met with a kick, which sufficed for that poor 

 bird ; but as others were usually at hand ready to take 

 his place, one's rate of progress was always slow. There 

 was not any trace of any of these birds' nests left any- 

 where. The whole side of the cliff was a semi-liquid 

 mass of slush, with rocks of various sizes scattered about. 

 Another striking feature was the number of dead and 

 dying birds about this rookery. Some of the Penguins 

 were maimed, having lost the greater part of a wing, 

 while others were bleeding from various parts of the 

 body. Mr. Felton informed me that these maimed birds 

 had probably been mauled by seals or sea-lions on their 

 way to the landing place at the base of the cliff, numbers 

 of these beasts frequenting this island. Later, I saw a 

 ' Rockhopper ' land in a very sorry plight ; he was 

 bleeding from various parts of the body, and in a few 

 moments expired. In an instant a skua-gull {Megalestris 

 antarctica), to whom nothing comes amiss, flew down and 

 began to tear it in pieces. On another occasion, when 

 visiting an enormous rookery of Rockhoppers in Berkley 

 Sound, where seals and sea-lions are very scarce, I did not 

 detect a single maimed bird in the whole assembly, and 

 only one sick individual. This bird greatly excited my 

 curiosity, and, much to my regret, I could not examine 

 him very closely, owing to the inaccessible place he had 

 chosen to spend his last hours in. The whole of the chest 

 of this bird was yellowish, instead of white. The bird was 

 most emaciated ; the keel of the sternum was plainly 

 visible through the thick feathers clothing the chest. 



