1 8 Vallentin, Notes on the Falklatid Islands. 



harm's way, and at once commenced to arrange his 

 feathers. Suddenly, a wave much larger than any of the 

 previous ones appeared right above him and ready to 

 break. In an instant the bird grasped the situation, and 

 taking a plunge into it escaped without injury. 



In some instances, these Penguins appeared to quite 

 miscalculate the right time to come on shore, viz., in the 

 dead water between two waves. They would land, or 

 rather be thrown, on shore on the crest of a breaking 

 wave, and would be flung up the sloping rock, and 

 struggle out of harm's way as best they could. I carefully 

 timed with my watch the average number of birds landing, 

 and found the number to be as near as possible ten a 

 minute. This was at 4 p.m. Mr. Felton informed me 

 that about 2 p.m. every day is the time when the greatest 

 numbers come on shore. 



It was here and also higher up the cliff on the track 

 used by these birds that Mr. Felton pointed out to me a 

 very interesting feature. The smooth surfaces of the 

 rocks over which these Penguins had passed for countless 

 generations were not only polished, but were marked by 

 lines of irregular shape and outline by the nails at the 

 ends of their feet. These scratches were usually about 

 three inches in length, and the deepest of them about a 

 quarter of an inch. On observing some of these ' Rock- 

 hoppers ' more closely, I noticed that in every instance 

 those birds placed the whole of the foot on the ground, 

 and that the nails at the end of the feet were always at 

 right angles to the rest of the foot. Hence, when these 

 birds were walking on the soft guano-soaked ground, the 

 impressions left by their feet always shewed three sharp 

 nails at the end of each foot most distinctly. After 

 admiring groups of these birds preening their feathers, and 

 washing themselves in the fresh rain-water which had 



