93 



This first swim is only a ' preliminary canter,' but now they are really off, and soon two little white dots 

 appearing now and again on the tops of the far-off rollers are all that can be seen of this small couple, so lately 

 nestling at one's feet. 



The laying season of Eoyal Penguins begins in September. They have only one egg, and both male and 

 female take turns in hatching and feeding the young one until it can go to sea and fish for itself ; this happens 

 when it is about three months old. In hatching, the egg is simply laid on the ground, the parents in turns 

 lying forward upon it ; it takes a month for the egg to break. 



At first we felt quite diffident of trying to go through a rookery of Penguins, the birds not having a 

 scrap of fear. They pecked violently at our moleskins and leggings whenever we approached them, but our 

 guide did not mind, and plunged straight in, kicking the birds out of his way, and separating them as if he 

 were going through a thick patch of tussocks. All the way through the birds objected in a deafening chorus, 

 and this seems to be their favourite mode of expressing extreme disgust. 



It is impossible to describe the numbers of these birds, but when I recall the face of a hill covered with 

 Penguins, ' millions ' sounds a weak mode of expression. ' Square miles ' will perhaps be better. 



Walking along one day at the bottom of one of these rookeries, with a breeze blowing down hill, I 

 gradually became covered with small feathers, and on looking up I was astonished to find that they came from 

 the birds moulting. With this wind blowing it looked as if snow were falling, the feathers in the air giving 

 the peculiar yellow effect seen during snowstorms. 



Captain Hutton writes (' Emu,' July, 1902, p. 2) : " On the land Penguins are not so active 

 as in the water, but it is a mistake to suppose that they are plantigrade, or, in other words, that 

 they apply the lower surface of the metatarsus to the ground when walking or hopping. They 

 walk or hop on their toes like other birds, and it is only when they are resting that they place the 

 metatarsus on the ground, a habit which is by no means peculiar to Penguins. When on the 

 snow or smooth ice they are said to lie down on their stomachs, and push themselves along with 

 their wings so rapidly that a man running can hardly keep up with them. When on shore they 

 sleep a good deal in the daytime, tucking their heads behind their small wings, while they make a 

 hideous noise all night. So I fancy that day and night are much the same to them. They feed 

 largely on cuttle-fish and Crustacea, but no doubt they eat fish as well." 



Mr. E. Carrick, a very observant man, who was sent down by the Colonial Government to 

 examine and report generally on the groups of islands to the south of New Zealand, writes : 



All these Penguins are migratory in their habits. They roost in the sub-Antarctic from about the end of 

 November to the beginning of April. Where they go, and how they occupy themselves in the interim, is not 

 known, beyond that they get into high southern latitudes — possibly Victoria Land, on the banks of the Great 

 Ice Gulf. Ten, or maybe twelve, weeks hence, and these outlying island ranches will most likely be fully 

 occupied — and busier scenes of bird-life could not be witnessed. 



This home-coming to the sub- Antarctic is a most wonderful performance. Each clan, ' hapu,' or call it 

 what you like, returns to its own particular quarters. It was the opinion of the late John Pairchild — and he 

 was a close observer — that each individual bird occupied its original site or seat. They form a breast-line 

 extending miles along the surface of the sea, and wherever one touches land the word is passed along, and the 

 ' hapu ' to which the land, in right of previous occupation belongs, files off. That is the story as I got it in 

 demonstration of the wonderful sagacity shown in threading these trackless seas ; and I am not going to scoff 

 at it, simply because it does not happen to lie within the pale of human comprehension. 



A word more regarding this home-coming. The Penguin leaves these shores poverty-stricken and 

 emaciated, but returns again fat and plump— proving that in the purvey he is quite as apt as he is in the 

 pilotage. 



I agree with all that is said about bird-life as a most fascinating study, and one which the conservation of 

 these islands will tend to promote. 



