88 E. LÖNNBERG, CONTRTBUTIONS TO THE FAUNA OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 



but sat down quietly on both the stränge and its own egg. A few days låter, however, 

 the Skua-egg had disappeared. 



When the eggs were hatched, each bird sat in the nest with its two yonngs in front. 



When the youngs were older they ran from their nest and huddied 

 together in a great crowd when disturbed. Sörling made then an experiment to 

 find ont whether the j^oungs knew which was their own nest. For that purpose he 

 suddenly caught one of the two grown up youngs in a nest, marked the nest and 

 tied a string round one of the wings of the young penguin. When this was done 

 he carried off the young and put it among the crowd of youngs at some distance from 

 the nest. Then he retired and hid among the tussock-grass to wateh the result. 

 When all was quiet again, the youngs began to try to find their home-nest again. 

 The marked young as well walked slowly in search of its nest, but evidently did 

 not know where it was. It walked up to one nest after the other believing it was 

 its own and looking for protection, but is was pecked at and driven away by the 

 old penguins. Finally, sinee it had strolled in many different directions and tried 

 to be sheltered by a lot of different birds, it found its own nest and then it was 

 received and allowed to step in the nest. 



Several times Sörling changed the youngs of different nests, but the parental 

 birds changed back their own youngs again in such a passive manner that the wrong 

 youngs were driven away and the right accepted, without the mother bird making 

 any efforts to find her offspring. 



The rookery was situated about 500 m. from the sea-shore and to and from 

 the sea the penguins had a certain path. This went through the high tussock-grass 

 and between the tussock-hills the ground was trod down and smooth. 



On land the penguins have no other foes than the Great Skua which always 

 is on the look out to steal eggs. 



When Sörling arrived to South Georgia the nests were already built and the 

 birds sitting. He observed, however, that male birds came carrying möss and other 

 building-material to the nest which they put down at the margin of the nest. The 

 sitting hen-bird then took it and arranged it as she wanted to have it. von den 

 Steinen (12) has also observed that both sexes partake in constructing the nest. 



The eggs of Pygoscelis papua are almost spherical the diameters of the three 

 eggs recorded above being resp. 69 x 58 ; 60 x 55 ; 65 x 57 mm. 



K. A. Andersson (8) has given a full report about the moulting of the youngs 

 of this and the other species of the genus. The young caught the 7th of Dec. 1904 

 by Sörling is light hoary grey on the back still more whitish beneath, only the 

 upper surface and sides of head being dark slaty grey. 



Aptenortytos pataclioiuca Forster 1781. 



Syn. : Apknodyt.es pennantii Gray 1844. 



J Boiler Harbour, Cumberland Bay, the 19t!i of Nov. 1904 »Tris Hglit brown.» 

 J\ $ Antarctic Bay, the 28 of June 1905. » I ris light brown. 



