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PROFESSOR J. COSSAR EWART AND DOROTHY MACKENZIE ON 
ised King Penguins in the London Gardens, it moulted in the autumn. On August 9 
there were indications that moulting was imminent, and on September 4 the old 
feathers began to fall off. By September 15 the whole of the feathers were shed and 
a complete new coat of full-grown feathers had taken their place. We can only 
account for the King Penguins in the Scottish Zoological Park completing their 
moult in about one-third of the time taken by the Kings in the London Gardens by 
assuming that the Scottish specimens were more completely acclimatised, or that 
(like Humboldt’s Penguin in the London Gardens in 1878) they were healthier 
and more vigorous. 
From what has been said, it is evident that the King Penguin differs in the, 
following respects from the kingfisher and other birds which wear or appear to wear 
the same plumage all the year round. 
(1) The true feathers of the penguin are preceded by two coats of down ; in the 
kingfisher the down coats are practically suppressed. 
(2) In the penguin an immature coat is assumed about the end of the first year, 
and the adult coat about the end of the second year ; in the kingfisher the adult coat 
is practically assumed before the young leave the nest. 
(8) In the penguin the new coat is substituted for the old during a distinct 
moulting period (which may only last ten or eleven days), and is preceded by marked 
constitutional disturbance ; in the kingfisher new feathers are being substituted for 
old throughout the greater part of the year, but there is no obvious moulting period, 
nor yet any indication of constitutional disturbance. 
(4) During the moulting period the penguins living under natural conditions 
never enter the water, and hence never have a chance of obtaining any food ; the 
kingfisher takes to the water, and feeds all the year round. 
The Great Northern Diver mainly differs from the King Penguin in moulting twice a 
year ; first into a sober or “ eclipse” coat at the end of the breeding season, and then 
back into the brilliant adult or nuptial coat, the substitution of the nuptial for the 
post-nuptial plumage occupying a period of nearly six months. 
In the case of the common duck there is the further difference that the female, 
throughout life, wears an inconspicuous coat, which is, in a sense, comparable to the 
immature coat of the penguins. 
Seeing that penguins fast during the moulting period, it is obviously an advantage 
that the exchange of the old for a new coat should be effected as expeditiously as 
possible. 
Ordinary Behaviour of King Penguins in Captivity. 
As already stated, a consignment of penguins (two adult and two young Kings, 
one Gentoo, and one Bockhopper) reached the Scottish Zoological Park from South 
Georgia on January 24, 1914. 
One of the first things noted about these penguins was their great exclusiveness 
