60 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Small wings Short legs. 



broad shafts scarcely webbed. The wings are 

 small, not unlike fins, covered with no longer 

 feathers than the rest of the body. Their wings 

 serve them rather as paddles to help them for- 

 ward, when they attempt to move swiftly ; and 

 in a manner walk along the surface of the water. 

 Even the smaller kinds seldom fly by choice; 

 they flutter their wings with the swiftest effort 

 without making way ; and though they have but 

 a small weight of body to sustain, yet they sel- 

 dom venture to quit the water where they are 

 provided with food and protection. 



Though the wings of the penguin tribe be un* 

 fitted for flight, their legs are still more auk- 

 wardly adapted for walking. The whole tribe 

 have all above the knee hid within the belly; and 

 nothing appears but two short legs, or feet, as 

 some would call them, that seem stuck under the 

 rump, and upon which the animal is very auk- 

 wardly supported. They seem, when sitting, or 

 attempting to walk, like a dog that has been taught 

 to sit up, or to walk on his hind legs. Their 

 short legs drive the body in progression from 

 side to side ; and were they not assisted by their 

 wings, they could scarcely move faster than a 

 tortoise ? 



This aukward position of the legs, which so 

 unqualifies them for living .upon land, adapts 

 them admirably for a residence in water. In 

 that, the legs placed behind the moving body, 

 pushes it forward with greater velocity; and 



