DOMESTIC LIFE 



large landslides are caused which bury many 

 hundreds of nests beneath them. In fact, these 

 screes on which the nests are built have been 

 formed by these landslides taking place from year 

 to year, and no doubt form the graves of thousands 

 upon thousands of former generations. One of 

 these slides took place whilst we were at the 

 rookery, doing terrible damage. A crowded 

 colony of Adelies were nesting just below, and the 

 avalanche passed right through and over them, 

 causing the most sad havoc. We found hundreds 

 of injured and dying, some of them in a pitiable 

 condition. Several were completely disembowelled, 

 others had the whole skin of their backs torn down 

 and hanging behind them in a flap, exposing the 

 bare flesh. Dozens had broken or dislocated legs 

 and flippers. 



The worst feature was that many were buried 

 alive beneath the snow, or pinned down to the ground 

 by masses of basalt. Twice I saw one flipper sticking 

 out of the snow, moving dismally, and dug out in 

 each case a badly injured bird which would have 

 lingered perhaps for days, because loose snow does 

 not always suffocate, owing to the amount of air 

 contained in its interstices, and to the fact that 

 diffusion takes place through it very readily. Several 



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