Order SPHENISCIFOKMES.] 



[Family SPHENISCIMl. 



OATARRHACTES SCHLEGELI. 



(SCHLEGEL'S PENGUIN.) 



Eudyptes schlegeli, Finsch; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 298. 



In disposition and character this bird differs entirely from the Victoria Penguin (0. pacJiy- 

 rhynchus). It is naturally one of the tamest and boldest of birds. It was quite amusing to 

 notice the behaviour of four living ones which I had turned loose in my garden. They always 

 kept in close company and acted together, as it were, automatically. They sometimes walked 

 up and down the garden paths in Indian-file, at other times they walked abreast, but always in 

 unison. Where one w r ent, the others would go ; and, if interrupted, or crossed in their path, 

 they would attack savagely with their powerful beaks, and endeavour to turn the flank of the 

 intruders, instead of turning back. They were more noisy than the other species, especially 

 at night and during the early morning, uttering at intervals a cry like that of the domestic 

 Gander, and at other times a sound strangely like the bleating of a sheep — such as one hears 

 at intervals from the pen at shearing- time. Their ordinary cry, frequently repeated, is not unlike 

 the cawing of Eooks. They selected a favourite resting-ground, and, although they wandered 

 freely over an acre of garden, they always came back to it. They seemed never tired of dipping 

 in the water and preening their feathers. When brought to me, they were undergoing their 

 annual moult, and presented a singular appearance, with the old plumage hanging about them 

 and peeling off in strips. By the end of July they had completed their moult, and were in 

 bright plumage, although their crests were only half developed, and their tail-feathers only 

 just appearing. This species has a bare flesh-coloured membrane round the angles of the 

 mouth, which imparts a very peculiar expression to the face, and admits of a wide expansion 

 of the mandibles. It has bright red irides, and feet of a dull gamboge-yellow colour. 



Observations on caged birds, or those kept in close captivity, are not perhaps of very 

 much value from a scientific point of view ; but, when (as in the present case) the birds had 

 the freedom of a garden and shrubbery, with access to water, they could be studied with 

 almost as much advantage as in their native habitat. Having several species of Penguin 

 associated together in this way, I was much struck with the wide difference in their natural 

 disposition and habits of life. Even individuals exhibited differences of character ; but as 

 between the species, these differences are very marked. 



The ordinary attitude of Schlegel's Penguin is half upright, sometimes with both flippers 

 extended, then one depressed, then both, just as if the bird was signalling to his fellows by 

 semaphore. 



I am able now to give the measurements of this species, taken from specimens in the flesh, 

 from Macquarie Island. 



Adult Male. — Length, 29 in. ; extent, 23'5 in. ; length of flipper, 9 in. ; bill, along the ridge 

 3*25 in., along the edge of lower mandible 3'5 in. ; tarsus, 1"5 in. ; middle toe and claw, 3*7 in. 



Adult Female. — Length, 26'5 in. ; extent, 21 in. ; length of flipper, 8 in. ; bill, along the 

 ridge 2*5 in., along the edge of lower mandible 2'8 in. 



The birds having at that time just completed their seasonal moult, their tails had not grown, 

 and therefore no measurements are given. 



