DOMESTIC LIFE 



make for the heights without any hesitation, thread- 

 ing their way almost in a straight hne through the 

 nests to the screes at the bottom of the chff, and 

 up these to one or other of the paths leading up its 

 side. Probably these had been hatched there, or 

 had nested there before, and were making their 

 way to their old haunts, but my notes on their 

 nesting habits go to show that the cocks, at any 

 rate, cannot keep to the same spot during succes- 

 sive years. It is the hen who chooses the site, and 

 stays on it, as I have shown, until a mate comes to 

 her, and wins her, very often only after defeating 

 many other competitors. 



The waste of life in an Adelie rookery is very 

 great, and is due to the following causes : 



The eggs. 

 Skuas. 



Cocks fighting among the nests. 

 Floods from thaw water. 

 Death of parents. 

 Snow-drifts. 

 Landslides. 



The young chicks. 

 Skuas. 

 Landslides. 



101 



