104 BROOKLYN INSTITUTE MUSEUM. SCIENCE BULLETIN 2. 5- 
temperate life zone, and, on the other, northward from an Antarctic sea. 
To-day the dominant species at vSonth Georgia is Pygoscclis papua, while 
the splendid king penguin {^Aptowdytes patacJio)iica) , likewise native to 
the Snbantarctic, occupies nnmericalh’ the ])lace of a poor second. 
My field work at South Georgia extended from November, 1912, 
until March, 1913, thus including the greater ])art of the ])engnins’ 
breeding sea.son.* Conditions, however, were not favorable for a 
sustained and exhaustive study of the.se fascinating birds. Working 
entirely alone, with a multiplicity of interests ; living for the most part 
on board the sealing brig Daisy, which was anchored miles distant from 
the penguin rookeries ; .stormbound for days at a time without hope of 
being able to get ashore — I .should have had enough to contend against 
without the added factor of human interference. But the ignorance and 
destructiveness of the Daisy' s crew were the greate.st of all hindrances to 
successful work. Unrestrained, the sailors and officers i)eriodically raided 
the ])enguin .settlements, killed large numbers of the adults not only for 
food, but for the skins as well, and destroyed many more of the eggs 
than the}" could either eat or take back to the United States as market- 
able “curiosities.” The mo.st deplorable incident was the whole.sale 
theft of eggs from two colonies of king penguins at the Bay of Isles. 
Many of the.se contained large embryos, and such eggs as could be neither 
eaten nor blown were thrown overboard. As a result of this piece of 
vandalism, I was denied the privilege of .seeing an}" young king penguins 
during our entire visit. Moreover, the pitiable remnant of this fine 
species was donbtle.ss serious!}^ set back in its waning struggle to keep a 
foothold at vSouth Georgia. 
Under such limitations the following ob.servations were made. Thev 
are .scattered notes, jotted down in the field ; linked together they form 
at best a fragmentary record of the life hi.stories of the king penguin and 
Pygoscclis papiia. 
Aptenodytes patachonica Forster 
Aptcnodyics patayonica Cat. B. Brit. Mns., XXVi, ]). 627 . 
The king penguin was formerly an altundant bird at vSouth Georgia, 
but it is now obviou.sly in danger of extinction. Captain James Cook, 
the di.scoverer, found large numbers of the species on the occasions of his 
* .See “A Report on the .South Georgia Expedition,” Science BnUeti)i 
Musemn, Vol. II, No. 4, 1914, pp. 43 -i°i- 
of the Brooklyn 
Institute 
