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BROOKLYN INSTITUTE MUvSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2. 5- 
emerge from the shell, the tardiness of young penguins in taking to the 
water has been pointed out as a remarkable phenomenon. The ex- 
]danation of this, however, is doubtless that the speed and stamina re- 
cpiired in capturing living jielagic food, in escaping from the dreaded sea 
leo]iard, and in swimming through breaking surf, can not be developed 
early in life by birds which use the zc/Tg.? instead of the feet as proiielling 
organs. Certainly the pinions of nestling penguins seem extraordinarily 
under-developed. The little birds begin to exercise them soon after 
birth by flapping them, weakly at fir.st but vigorously later on, a trait 
that sugge.sts ancestral aspirations for flight. The young johnnies never 
enter the water of their own accord until they hav'e completed the post- 
juvenal molt. I was informed by sealers at South Georgia that the 
\ oung.sters then receive from the adults a sort of di.sci]fline strongly re- 
resembling " swimming lessons, ” * but it was never my privilege to 
witne.ss this interesting performance. f On many occasions I put nest- 
lings of various ages, as well as fully grown, molting young, into the 
fresh water jionds wdiere they proved themseh’'es almost as helpless as 
human beings unfamiliar with swimming. They instinctively put their 
heacfs under water and tried to swim below the surface in the approved 
fashion, but it was a feat quite impossible for them. They beat the 
wings .simultaneoush', and bobbed U]i and down without making much 
])rogress. Such a scene always attracts a band of skuas to the spot, as if 
these ogres realized the helpless mi-ser}- of a young penguin in the water. 
The skuas do not .strike while their prospective victim is .swdmming, but 
pace along the shore waiting to intercept its landing. Once a half- 
grown youngster, with which I had been experimenting, crawled out of 
the grave-}'ard pool into the very jaws of .seven skuas which attacked it 
at masse. The little penguin struck with its feeble wings and cried out 
piteou.sly. In.significant as it was, not one of the skuas dared seize it 
outright, but they made quick rushes from all .sides, striking the pen- 
guin on the head with clo.sed bills, and then retreating. I hurried to the 
rescue and re.stored the little bird to its nest where I afterwards saw it 
re.sting characteri.stically with its head hidden between its mother’s 
warm, feathered thighs. 
It seems to the writer that the name johnny penguin might well be 
* I,evick confirms tlie truth of this by his oiiservations on the Adelie penguins. 
t Most of the jolinny penguins are said to migrate to sea during April, althongh a few linger 
abont the .shores of .South Georgia into the winter. Dr. Gain of the Pourquoi Pas a.scertained, by 
handing examples of P. papua at Petermann's Island, that the .same birds come hack to the .same 
rookery year after year. It seems probable that the j'o\ing spend nearly two years at .sea before 
returning to breed. 
