ADELIE PENGUINS 



With the exception, in some cases, of a few 

 hours immediately after arrival (and I believe the 

 later arrivals could not afford themselves even this 

 short respite) constant vigilance had been main- 

 tained ; battle after battle had been fought ; some 

 had been nearly killed in savage encounters, re- 

 covered, fought again and again with varying 

 fortune. They had mated at last, built their nests, 

 procreated their species, and, in short, met the 

 severest trials that Nature can inflict upon mind 

 and body, and at the end of it, though in many 

 cases blood-stained and in all caked and bedraggled 

 with mire, they were as active and as brave as ever. 



When one egg had been laid the hen still sat on 

 the nest. The egg had to be continually warmed, 

 and as the temperature was well below freezing- 

 point, exposure would mean the death of the 

 embryo. 



In order to determine the period between the 

 laying of the two eggs, I numbered seven nests 

 with wooden pegs, writing on the pegs the date on 

 which each egg was laid. The result obtained is 

 shown on page 53. 



The average interval in the four cases where two 

 eggs were laid being 3 '3 days. 



No. 7 nest was that of the hen which I men- 

 52 



