342 The Bird 
is lost,—all the flexibility of wrist and elbow. With 
these propellers the penguins fly through the water, with 
almost the identical motion of a bird in the air. Though 
it is usually asserted that the wings move alternately, 
this was never the case with a pair of Black-footed Pen- 
guins which I carefully observed. As regards the speed 
of swimming, I found that one of these birds, though in 
bad health at the time and so weak that it could take 
but a few steps on land, was able to progress under water 
Ra inc ci 
prciecas 
ese i pies £ SA AE Pi Pe ia Bee de SS 
Fia. 271.—Penguin swimming with its wings. 
considerably faster than a man could walk an equal dis- 
tance on land. The greatest speed was about seven miles 
an hour; but I have no doubt that when in full health 
this rate can be far surpassed. 
Surely no fairy-tale can match the marvellous evo- 
lution of a penguin’s wing: fin becoming hand, hand 
evolving into wing, and wing reacting to the environ- — 
ment of long ago and again taking on all the outward 
characteristics of a fin! 
