SPHENISCIDAE 



55 



The horny sheath of the maxilla is composed of from three to 

 five more or less distinct pieces, while the powerful bill may be 

 long, thin, and slightly decurved, as in Aj^itenodytes eind Fygosceles ; 

 shorter and pretty broad, as in Eudijptes ; or very stout, short, 

 and compressed, as in Spheniscus, where the prominent hook of the 

 culmen overhangs a truncated mandible. The three metatarsals 

 are not completely fused as in other birds (p. 10), the scutellated 

 metatarsus itself being shorter and broader than in any other 

 Family, except the Fregatidae ; the legs are set far back, the tibia 

 is hardly visible, and the short thick toes are directed forwards, 

 the small hallux alone having no web. Even more striking 

 are the wings, which are totally devoid of normally-developed 

 quills, though the number of feathers is very large, the primaries 

 themselves amounting to about thirty-six ; these flippers or 

 paddles have highly compressed bones with no power of flexure, 

 but work freely from the shoulder in rotatory fashion, requiring 

 a corresponding increase of strength in the muscles of the neigh- 

 bouring parts. The numerous rectrices are fairly long and stiff 

 in Aptmiodytes, Pygoscehs, and Eudyptes, but shorter in Spheniscus, 

 having considerably reduced ^'anes. On the body we find some 

 naked tracts, with a pretty uniform covering of small feathers, 

 with or without barbs, and an equally uniform distribution of 

 down both in adults and young ; the moult, moreover, is accom- 

 plished in an exceptional manner, the plumage being shed in 

 masses, and that of the wing gradually flaking off above the new 

 coat. The process apparently occupies about ten days.'^ Long 

 superciliary crests occur in Eud/ypUs, the mandible is more or less 

 feathered in Aptenodytes and Pygosceles, and the metatarsi are 

 clothed besides in A.forsteri. The furcula is U-shaped, the syrinx 

 tracheo-bronchial, the tongue often rudimentary, an after-shaft is 

 present, and the plentiful subcutaneous fat produces a marketable oil. 



Penguins ^ have been said to derive their name from the Latin 

 pinguis (fat) or the English " pin-wing," i.e. pinioned wing, but 

 such nautical appellations are usually obscure. The French term 

 them " Manchots." These birds rest on the whole metatarsus, the 

 bill usually pointing upwards ; their gait on land is ludicrous, but 

 often fast, a vertical position being generally preserved, while they 

 endeavour to waddle along on their toes with constant flapping 

 of the pinions, every now and then partially losing their balance 



^ A. D. Bartlett, P.Z.S. 1879, p. 6. ^ Cf. Gare-fowl {Alcidae), infra. 



