388 FOREIGN BIRDS. 



Nor that tiny Hirundinid, he of the east, 



Of his tribe the most singular, while, too, the least ; 



Not, like martins or swallows, with clay or with loam^ 



Such vulgar materials ! constructs he his dome : 



Within walls of pure gelatine, little beside. 



The Esculent-Swallow* delights to reside ; 



The Demersa, or Cape-Pinguin, is twenty-one inches long; 

 plumage above black, of the head and throat dirty grey ; 

 breast, belly, and tail, white ; the two short appendages in 

 place of wings black above, white on the lower edge, white 

 varied with black beneath. Swims and dives well, but hops 

 and flutters in a strange awkward manner on land, and, if 

 hurried, stumbles perpetually ; will frequently run for some dis- 

 tance like a quadruped, making use of the finny wings instead 

 of legs, crying out like a goose, but in a much hoarser voice. 

 Said to clamber some way up the rocks to make a nest, in doing 

 which it assists with the bill. Eggs two, white, size of a duck, 

 very good ; these birds are sometimes kept tamo, but do not 

 survive the confinement many months. Inhabits the Cape of 

 Good Hope. 



The Magellanica, or Magellanic-Pinguin, is two feet or 

 more long, and weighs eleven pounds ; voice not unlike the 

 braying of an ass ; flesh not unpalatable, but of a musky 

 flavour. Eggs size of a goose, and laid in pairs, are good ; 

 they are deposited in places where many of the tribe associate. 

 Inhabits Falkland Islands. 



The Chrysocome, Crested-Pi nguin, or Hopping-Pinguin, 

 is a beautiful bird, twenty-three inches long, inhabiting the 

 Falkland Islands, the Isle of Desolation, New Holland, &c. 

 Called Hopping from its habit of leaping quite out of the water 

 on meeting with the least resistance. 



* For an account of this bird, see page 158 ; for its nest, see 

 the Introduction, page 23. 



