The King Penguin. 407 



The entire family of the Spheniscinge are characterised by 

 their short fin-like wings, which are covered with dense scale- 

 like feathers. The tail in all the genera is composed of rigid 

 narrow feathers. The tarsi, usually so long and leg-like in 

 birds, is excessively short, the feet flat and webbed, the hind 

 toe being very small, attached to the inner toe, and directed 

 forwards. 



The family includes four genera, Spheniscus, Eudyptes, 

 Pygoscelis, and Apterodytes. In the genus Spheniscus, to 

 which the common jackass penguin, 8. demersus, belongs, the 

 upper mandible is hooked, and the lower truncated, so as to 

 give the beak somewhat the character of that of an albatross. 

 Eudyptes includes the crested penguin, or rock-hopper, 

 PJ. Chrysocome, the description of whose habits has been 

 already quoted from Captain Abbott, a species which is 

 found in all the seas of the Southern Hemisphere, sometimes 

 hundreds of miles away from land, M. Lesson having noticed 

 them in south latitude 43° 8', and west longitude 56° 56'. 



In Apterodj^tes, the met interesting genus to us at the 

 present time, the bill is nearly straight, slender, bent slightly 

 at the tip, and longer than the head, both mandibles being 

 pointed. 



This genus contains two species, that were formerly con- 

 founded under one name ; but they were distinguished by Gray, 

 in his Genera of Birds, and named A. Fosterii, the emperor, 

 and A. PennantLi, the king penguin. 



The outward form of the king penguin is admirably given 

 in the drawings of Mr. Wood. The erect attitude, the mode 

 of progression, the peculiar form of the body, and the singular 

 fin or flapper-like character of the rudimentary wings are all 

 made evident ; but there are in the internal structure of these 

 singular birds many curious modifications which require a 

 passing notice. 



The. skeleton, as may be readily imagined, is most pecu- 

 liarly formed. The bones composing it are hard, dense, and 

 compact. Unlike those of aerial voyagers, they do not contain 

 air, but their cavities are filled with oily marrow. The air- 

 cells which in ordinary birds surround the different viscera, 

 and so aid in producing the extreme buoyancy required for 

 flight, are small and rudimentary in the penguin. 



The bones of the upper extremity are peculiarly adapted 

 to the aquatic habits of the bird. The scapula or blade-bone, 

 narrow in all birds as compared with its size in mammals, is 

 very straight and unusually large at its posterior or lower 

 extremity. The whole of the bones of the fore limb are thin 

 and flat, so as to constitute a thin paddle that can lie passed 

 edgeways through the water; as it is brought forwards prepa- 



