A FEATHERED SEAL 275 



living paddles — which they are. The quickness and dexterity 

 of this bird in chasing and capturing live fishes, swallowing 

 them under water and instantly pursuing others, is one of 

 the most wonderful sights in bird life. The bird always dives 

 with its lungs full of air, and during the middle of its period 

 under water it exhales. When it does so, bubbles of air issue 

 from each corner of the mouth and float upward like two 

 strings of pearls. 



It is strange that the feet perform so very little service 

 while the Penguin is diving; but such is the fact. Of all 

 birds that love water, I think the Penguin loves it most. It 

 will lie on its side at the surface and, in sheer playfulness and 

 excess of joy, beat the water with its uppermost wing, wriggle 

 about, then turn over and splash with the other. 



In the sea a flock of Penguins is readily mistaken for a 

 school of dolphins, because they dive so persistently, in 

 order to swim with their wings, and thus get on in the world 

 very much faster than if they sat up and paddled with their 

 feet. 



There are about twenty species of Penguins, of which 

 the Emperor is the largest, and the King Penguin second. 

 All are found in the southern hemisphere. The largest Em- 

 peror Penguin ever weighed and recorded weighed 78 pounds ! 

 Needless to say, these birds live almost wholly upon fish, in 

 the capture of which they are the most expert of all birds. 



