ADELIE PENGUINS 



of us spent a long time in killing with ice-axes those 

 that seemed too badly injured to recover. 



It was remarkable to see the way in which all the 

 nests which had escaped the avalanche, however 

 narrowly, were still sat upon by their occupants, as 

 if nothing had happened. Also I saw several badly 

 injured birds sitting on their eggs, some of them 

 soaked in blood, so that they looked like crimson 

 parrots. The amount of bloodshed must have been 

 great, as the snow was dyed with blood in all direc- 

 tions. As a cascade of water followed the avalanche, 

 and continued for some hours, spreading out into 

 little rivers among the nests, many were being 

 deluged, and some of the penguins actually were 

 sitting in the running water, in a vain attempt to 

 keep warm their drowned chicks and spoiled eggs. 



Sometimes, digging at hazard in the drifted snow, 

 I came on birds that had been deeply buried, and 

 though they were held down and kept motionless by 

 the weight of the snow covering them, most of 

 them were alive, and I have no doubt many dozens 

 died a lingering death in this way. Such as had 

 merely suffered broken flippers or legs, I spared, 

 and the next day nearly all of these seemed to be 

 doing well. One bird I found sitting on two eggs 

 which were in the middle of a rivulet of water, so I 

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