122 BROOKLYN INSTITUTE MUSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2. 5- 
to go is that on the hind-head, neck, an shoulders. Wdien the changed 
has been completed the youngsters are distinguishable from their elders 
only by their sleeker appearance, .short tails, pale feet, small, light- 
colored bills, and voices which are nnmi.stakably childish. At this age 
they .still remain together in bands, and spend a good deal of the day 
in .slee]iing. The>- are, however, quite as inquisitive as the old birds. 
Ihitil the end of February or later they are dependent for their food, and 
the\' are fed at least partially by regurgitation iqi to the middle of 
March. 
On March 12, at the rookery on the we.st shore of Po.sse.ssion Bay, I 
saw many fnlh’ grown >'oung ])engihns following the old birds and 
demanding food. One }-oung.ster cha.sed a sorry looking adult to the 
water’s edge where the latter turned and proceeded to punqi iq) a meal. 
After a few moments, however, this ])er.secnted parent, or foster jiarent, 
tore away, jilunged under a breaking wave and was lost to view. The 
insatiable young ])engnin followed it into the surf but came out again 
di.scomfited within a few .seconds. 
The postjuvenal molt of the ne.stling johniu' penguins is succeeded 
clo.sely by the annual po.stnu])tial molt of the adults. Toward the end of 
February the feathers of the latter, already much faded and frayed, begin 
to drop out, further to litter up the ground of the rookeries, which have 
become evil-smelling and filthy from the surface mixture of mud, deca^■ing 
tussock gra.ss, excrement, down feathers, and dead nestlings. The 
molting season of the adults .seems to endure all through the summer, the 
])lumage coming off in patches. A period of several days intervenes be- 
tween the lo.ss of the contour feathers and of the long, stiff rectrices.* 
On March 12 I observed that a few of the adults had not yet begun to 
doff their old coats, which were brown, rough, and threadbare. Manv 
more, the majority of the birds in fact, were in the throes of the proce.ss 
and were exceedingly ragged, the new ])lumage showing in sj^ots. Others 
had completed the molt of the bod>- feathers, but .still retained their long 
tails, while the mo.st advanced birds had dro]iped all their old feathers 
including the rectrices, a tem])orar>- lo.ss which gave them a more dumpy 
outline than ever ; for appearance sake a johnn>- can ill afford to be 
without its luxuriant tail. There is also a ])ractical di.sadvantage, .since 
the.se birds u.se the .stiff, bri.sth' tail feathers as a jirop. Certain changes 
* Sfth-Sinith /. f. recorcLs that the rectricc.s of a captive king penguin were the finst feather.s to 
l>e molted. 'I'hi.s i.s also in accord with the testimony of other observers of penguins. I, however, 
saw many fre.shly-molted examples of P. papmx with long tails. 
