CHAPTER XXXIII 

 THE ORDER OF FLIGHTLESS DIVERS 



IMPENNES. 



No matter where man may go, on land or 

 sea, or polar ice-pack, Nature holds birds in 

 readiness to welcome him. 



When Peary reached the point of land that 

 is nearest the north pole, at the northeastern 

 extremity of Greenland, on July 4, 1892, he found 

 there the snow-bunting, sand-piper, raven, 

 Greenland falcon, and ptarmigan. On the great 

 arctic ice-floe, at Lat. 82° 40', Nansen saw the 

 fulmar (Procellaria glacialis), and the black 

 guillemot, and a little later the ivory gull, little 

 auk, and Ross's gull. When the steamer Belgica 

 penetrated the awful solitudes of the antarctic 

 archipelago, in 1898, and spent there the "First 

 Antarctic Night" 1 ever endured by man in that 

 region, Dr. Frederick A. Cook and his com- 

 panions found, in close proximity to their ice- 

 bound ship, flocks of large and very strange 

 birds. They had an opportunity to study the 

 wonderful Emperor Penguin 2 in its haunts, 

 such as never before had been secured by 

 naturalists. 



This species is the largest of the wingless 

 and flightless swimming-birds. In bulk it is 

 about the size of our great white pelican. Its 

 height is 3i feet, and it stands as erect as any 

 soldier on parade. In its erect posture its 

 wings seem like arms, and its queer manner 

 of talking, scolding, and prying into man's 

 affairs, makes this bird seem more like a feath- 

 ered caricature of a big, fat human being than 

 an ordinary diving-bird. Its head is black, 

 its abdomen is white, and its legs and feet are 

 feathered quite down to the claws. The wings 

 are covered with feathers that are more like 

 fish-scales than feathers, and the feathers of 

 the back also are very close and scale-like. 



To a naturalist or bird-lover, the sight of 



1 Dr. Cook's valuable narrative of the exploration 

 bears this title. 



2 Ap-te-no-dy'tes fos'ter-i. 



great flocks of Emperor Penguins, and of the 

 smaller Pack Penguins, on the antarctic ice- 

 floes, must be sufficient to repay the explorer 

 for many of the long, dark hours of the voyage 

 that is required to reach their haunts. Says 

 Dr. Cook: 



"A number of royal and small penguins, and 

 some seals, were led by curiosity to visit us. 

 They called, and cried, and talked, and grunted 

 as they walked over the ice about the ship." 



I have seen and heard the Black-Footed 

 Penguin, 3 of South Africa, scold and complain 

 m a most human-like manner. On land, or on 

 an ice-floe, this bird is so awkward and helpless 

 that any blood-thirsty observer can walk up 

 and kill it with a stick. Place it in water, 

 however, and what a transformation! Imme- 

 diately it will give an exhibition of diving which 

 is astonishing. 



In an instant, a waddling, slow-moving, 

 almost helpless bird is transformed into a feath- 

 ered seal. With its feet floating straight be- 

 hind, and of no use save in steering, it points 

 its beak and head straight forward, and swims 

 wholly with its wings. Those flipper-like mem- 

 bers reach forward simultaneously, work in 

 perfect unison, and strike the water like living 

 paddles — which they are. The quickness and 

 dexterity of this bird in chasing and capturing 

 live fishes, swallowing them under water, and 

 instantly pursuing others, is one of the most 

 wonderful sights in bird-life. The bird always 

 dives with its lungs full of air, and during the 

 middle of its period under water, it exhales. 

 When it does so, bubbles of air issue from each 

 corner of the mouth and float upward like two 

 strings of pearls. 



It is strange that the feet perform very little 

 service while the Penguin is diving; but such is 



3 Sphe-nis'cus de-mer'sus. 



307 



