126 
PROFESSOR J. COSSAR EWART AND DOROTHY MACKENZIE ON 
different groups of muscles and nerve-centres.” Toboganning has never been observed 
at the Scottish Zoological Park. 
They do not appear to care about diving into the water from a height, but prefer 
to go in from the water’s edge, and they have never been seen to jump out of their 
pool after the manner of the Adelie Penguin as described by Murray Levick. 
When being driven from one end of their enclosure to the other, the penguins, as 
they walk backwards, hold themselves very erect, compress^ their feathers tightly to' 
their bodies, hold their flippers well in front of them, bravely facing the foe all 
the time. 
Behaviour of King Penguins before and during the Moulting Period. 
A penguin, in ordinary circumstances, is very vain and most particular about its 
personal appearance — any speck of dirt on its shimmering white breast, or any sign 
of untidiness of the feathers, being looked on askance by its fellows. 
Towards the end of July 1915, about three weeks before the moult actually 
commenced, there were indications that something unusual was pending, and that 
things were not going as placidly and smoothly as is usual in penguin life. The 
feathers of the back began to lose their lustre and colour, and gradually assumed a 
sort of rusty -fawn tint ; the white feathers of the breast and abdomen also lost their 
sheen and gradually turned to a kind of pale fawn (fig. l). The yellow feathers of 
the throat and auricular patches faded away to a dirty cream colour, and the whole 
appearance of the bird suggested great untidiness and dejection — its only desire was 
to be left alone in its abject misery. In addition, the feathers, instead of lying 
closely and compactly against the body, stood almost on end, thus giving, the bird 
the appearance of being nearly twice its usual size (fig. 2). Its untidy appearance 
led its companions, ordinarily so friendly, to exhibit marked disapproval, with the 
result that the unfortunate bird was sent to Coventry. This seeming aversion 
was apparently quite mutual ! for - the moulting penguin pecked furiously at either 
of the others if they had the temerity to disturb its solitude. The appetite also 
began to fail, and on some days the sickening bird would eat nothing at all, in 
spite of much coaxing on the part of its keeper. During the few days immediately 
preceding the actual shedding of the body feathers, the tail quills, very worn 
and bedraggled, dropped out, giving the bird a curiously dumpy appearance and 
depriving it of a most valuable support — the loss of the tail no doubt tended to 
increase the penguin’s misery, discomfort, and unhappiness. During these changes 
the trumpet-call was never used, nor did the bird spend any time in the water, 
though it would occasionally sit at the edge of the pool considering whether or not 
a swim should be indulged in — invariably the latter idea prevailed ! For some time 
before moulting the breathing was very laboured and quite distressing to watch, 
the inspirations numbering as many as 26 to the minute, whereas the usual number 
appears to be about 16. 
