THE PENGUIN. 153 



Duperrey (" Voyage de la Coquille,") found the Falklands 

 ewarming with penguins. In summer and autumn these strange 

 birds leave their burrows early in the morning, and launch into 

 the sea for fishing. After having filled their capacious stomachs, 

 they waddle on shore, and remain for a time congregated on the 

 •strand, raising a dreadful clamour ; after which they retire to 

 enjoy a noon-tide sleep among the high tussack grass or in their 

 burrows. In the afternoon the fishing recommences. Lesson 

 says that about sunset on fine summer evenings, which 

 unfortunately are but of rare occurrence on those foggy, storm- 

 visited islands, all the penguins together raise their discordant 

 voices, so that at a distance the noise might be mistaken for 

 the hoarse murmur of a great popular assembly. As soon as 

 the young are sufficiently strong, the whole band leaves the 

 island, departing no one knows whither, though the mariners 

 frequenting those seas believe that they spend the winter on 

 the ocean. This opinion seems to be corroborated by the 

 observations of Sir James Ross, who, on the 4th of December, 

 in 49° S. lat., met on the high sea a troop of penguins that 

 were doubtless on the way to their breeding place. He 

 admired the astonishing instinct of these creatures, half fish, 

 half bird, which leads them hundreds of miles through the 

 pathless ocean to their accustomed summer abodes. 



It may be imagined how the neighbouring seas must abound 

 with fish, to be able to nourish such multitudes of penguins, 

 whose stomach is capable of holding more than two pounds, and 

 whose voracity is so great that they are often obliged to disgorge 

 their superabundant meal. The elongated stomach reaches to 

 the lower part of the abdomen, and the whole length of the 

 intestinal canal is twenty-five feet, fifteen times longer than the 

 body, so that nature has evidently provided for a most vigorous 

 appetite, whetted by sea-bathing and sea air. 



There are several species of penguins. The largest {Apte- 

 nodytes antarctica) weighs about eighty pounds. It is a rare 

 bird, generally found singly, while the smaller species always 

 associate in vast numbers. In 77° S. lat., Sir James Eoss caught 

 three of these giant penguins, the smallest of which weighed 

 fifty-seven pounds. In the stomach of one of them he found 

 ten pounds of quartz, granite, and trap fragments, swallowed 

 ; most likely to promote digestion. 



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