THE MEGALLANIC PENGUIN. QC)5 



Description Food. 



THE MEGALLANIC PENGUIN. 



THIS is the most singular and remarkable o 

 all the penguin tribe. In size it approaches that 

 of a tame goose. It never flies, as its wings are 

 very short, and covered with stiff hard feathers, 

 which are always seen expanded, and hanging use- 

 less down by the bird's sides. The upper part of 

 the head, back, and rump, are covered with stiff, 

 black feathers; while the belly and breast, as is 

 common with all of this kind, are of a snowy 

 whiteness, except a line of black that is seen to 

 cross the crop. The bill, which from the base 

 to about half way is covered with wrinkles, is 

 black, but marked crosswise with a stripe of yel- 

 low. They walk erect with their heads on high, 

 their fin-like wings hanging down like arms; so 

 that to see them at a distance, they look like so 

 many children with white aprons. From hence 

 they are said to unite in themselves the qualities 

 of men, fowls, and fish. Like men, they are up- 

 right; like fowls they are feathered;* and like 

 fish they have fin-like instruments, that beat 

 the water before, and serve for all the purposes 

 of swimming rather than flying. 



They feed upon fish : and seldom come ashore, 

 except in the breeding season. As the seas in 

 that part of the world abound with a variety, 

 they seldom want food ; and their extreme fat- 

 ness seems a proof of the plenty in which they 



VOL. iv. NO. 28. 2 L 



