'154 THE INHABITANTS OP THE SEA. 



The penguin, like his northern representative the auk, lays 

 but one single egg. His not unsavoury flesh is black. Besides 

 his dense plumage, he is protected against the cold of the 

 higher latitudes by a thick cover of fat under his skin. 



Humboldt's penguin (Spheniscus Humb.) is frequently found 

 in the Bay of Callao. This bird is a little smaller than the 

 common grey penguin, with a somewhat differently coloured 

 back and breast. The Peruvians call it pajaro nmo, " little 

 darling bird," and keep it in their houses ; it is very easily 

 tamed, gets very familiar, and follows its master like a dog. 

 The sight of the fat creature, awkwardly waddling about the 

 streets on its short feet, and violently agitating its wing-stumps 

 to maintain its equilibrium, is inexpressibly grotesque. Tschudi 

 kept one of these tame penguins, which punctually obeyed his 

 call. At dinner it regularly stood like a stiff footman behind 

 his chair, and at night slept under his bed. "When " Pepe " 

 wanted a bath, he went into the kitchen and kept striking with 

 his beak against an earthen jar, until some one came to pour 

 water over him. 



To the pelican tribe, which is generally distinguished fcy a 



surface of naked skin about the 

 throat, capable of considerable di- 

 latation, and serving as a pouch for 

 the reception of unswallowed food, 

 belong among others the Cormo- 

 rant (Phalacrocorax), the Frigate- 

 Bird (Tachypetes aquila), and the 

 Grannet (Sula bassana), or Solan 

 goose. All these birds are of much 

 common Pelican. more active habits than the last 



named family, with bodies of more 

 shapely form, more ample wings, and a stronger flight. 



The common cormorant with his long bill, bent at the point, 

 and furnished with a nail, his black livery, and yellowish chin- 

 pouch, is a most disagreeable comrade. His smell, when alive, is 

 more rank and offensive than that of any other bird, and his 

 flesh is so disgusting, that it turns the stomach even of an 

 Esquimaux In spite of his voracity, he always remains thin 

 and meagre, the picture of a hungry parasite. But fishing he 

 understands remarkably well, and formerly used to be trained 



