THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



of the rookery. Her reasoning seemed to be this: " There 

 was a chick in my nest, therefore this empty nest can't 

 be mine." She couldn't imagine the chick leaving the 

 nest, and so never searched for it. It was only a yard 

 from the nest all the time. After half an hour's searching 

 in vain for any place like home she returned to the nest, 

 and accepted the restored chick as a matter of course. 



A lost chick was never sought for. There would be 

 no use; it couldn't be recognised. On account of this 

 peculiarity we were able to make many readjustments 

 of the family arrangements. When the blizzard destroyed 

 so many chicks we distributed the young from nests where 

 there were two to nests where there were none. They were 

 usually adopted eagerly and the plan was quite successful. 



When both birds are at a nest that is disturbed, or 

 when the mate comes up from feeding to relieve guard, 

 there is an interchange of civilities in the form of a loud 

 squawking in unison, accompanied by a curious move- 

 ment. The birds' necks are crossed, and at each squawk 

 they are changed from side to side, first right then left. 

 The harsh complaining clamour which they make was for 

 long mistaken for quarreling. 



A bird returning from the sea came to the wrong nest 

 and tried to enter into conversation with the occupant, 

 who would have nothing to do with him. She knew her 

 mate had just gone off for the day, and wouldn't be such 

 a fool as to come back too early, so she sat still, indiffer- 

 ent to the squawking of the other. A look of distress 

 came into his face as he failed to get any response, and 

 he was slow to realise that he had made a mistake. 



A small colony was found with about two dozen large 

 chicks, unattended by any old birds. They were driven 

 across the lake to a larger colony. Half-way over a few 

 old birds were squatted, enjoying a rest. When the chicks 



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