ADELIE PENGUINS 



had eggs, a hen was observed to have scooped a 

 httle hollow in the ground and to be sitting in this. 

 Day after day she sat on looking thinner and 

 sadder as time passed and making no attempt to 

 build her nest. At last, on November 27, she had 

 her reward, for I found that a cock had joined her, 

 and she was busily building her nest in the little 

 scoop she had made so long before, her husband 

 steadily working away to provide her with the 

 necessary pebbles. Her forlorn appearance of the 

 past ten days had entirely given place to an air of 

 occupation and happiness. 



As time went on I became certain that in- 

 variably pairing took place after arrival at the 

 rookery. On October 23 1 went to the place where 

 the stream of arrivals was coming up the beach, and 

 presently followed a single bird, which I afterwards 

 found to be a cock, to see what it was going to do. 

 He threaded his way through nearly the whole 

 length of the rookery by himself, avoiding the 

 tenanted knolls where the nests were, by keeping 

 to the emptier hollows. About every hundred yards 

 or so he stopped, ruffled up his feathers, closed his 

 eyes for a moment, then " smoothed himself out " 

 and went on again, thus evidently struggling against 

 desire for sleep after his journey. As he progressed 

 36 



