CHAPTER XXXIII 
THE ORDER OF FLIGHTLESS DIVERS 
IMPENNES. 
No matter where man may go, on land or 
sea, or polar ice-pack, Nature holds birds in 
readiness to welcome him. 
When Peary reached the point of land that 
is nearest the north pole, at the northeastern 
extremity of Greenland, on July 4, 1892, he found 
there the snow-bunting, sand-piper, raven, 
Greenland falcon, and ptarmigan. On the great 
arctic ice-floe, at Lat. 82° 40', Nansen saw the 
fulmar ( Procellaria glacialis), and the black 
guillemot, and a little later the ivory gull, little 
auk, and Ross’s gull. When the steamer Bclgica 
penetrated the awful solitudes of the antarctic 
archipelago, in 1898, and spent there the “ First 
Antarctic Night” 1 ever endured by man in that 
region, Dr. Frederick A. Cook and his com- 
panions found, in close proximity to their ice- 
bound ship, flocks of large and very strange 
birds. They had an opportunity to study the 
wonderful Emperor Penguin 2 in its haunts, 
such as never before had been secured by 
naturalists. 
This species is the largest of the wingless 
and flightless swimming-birds. In bulk it is 
about the size of our great white pelican. Its 
height is 34 feet, and it stands as erect as any 
soldier on parade. In its erect posture its 
wings seem like arms, and its queer manner 
of talking, scolding, and prying into man’s 
affairs, makes this bird seem more like a feath- 
ered caricature of a big, fat human being than 
an ordinary diving-bird. Its head is black, 
its abdomen is white, and its legs and feet are 
feathered quite down to the claws. The wings 
are covered with feathers that are more like 
fish-scales than feathers, and the feathers of 
the back also are very close and scale-like. 
To a naturalist or bird-lover, the sight of 
1 Dr. Cook’s valuable narrative of the exploration 
bears this title. 
2 Ap-te-no-dy'tes fos'ter-i. 
great flocks of Emperor Penguins, and of the 
smaller Pack Penguins, on the antarctic ice- 
floes, must be sufficient to repay the explorer 
for many of the long, dark hours of the voyage 
that is required to reach their haunts. Says 
Dr. Cook: 
“A number of royal and small penguins, and 
some seals, were led by curiosity to visit us. 
They called, and cried, and talked, and grunted 
as they walked over the ice about the ship.” 
I have seen and heard the RIack-Footed 
Penguin , 3 of South Africa, scold and complain 
hi a most human-like manner. On land, or on 
an ice-floe, this bird is so awkward and helpless 
that any blood-thirsty observer can walk up 
and kill it with a stick. Place it in water, 
however, and what a transformation! Imme- 
diately it will give an exhibition of diving which 
is astonishing. 
In an instant, a waddling, slow-moving, 
almost helpless bird is transformed into a feath- 
ered seal. With its feet floating straight be- 
hind, and, of no use save in steering, it. points 
its beak and head straight forward, and swims 
wholly with its wings. Those flipper-like mem- 
bers reach forward simultaneously, work in 
perfect unison, and strike the water like living 
paddles — which they are. The quickness and 
dexterity of this bird in chasing and capturing 
live fishes, swallowing them under water, and 
instantly pursuing others, is one of the most 
wonderful sights in bird-life. The bird always 
dives with its lungs full of air, and during the 
middle of its period under water, it exhales. 
When it does so, bubbles of air issue from each 
corner of the mouth and float upward like two 
strings of pearls. 
It is strange that the feet perform very little 
service while the Penguin is diving; but such is 
3 Sphe-nis'cus de-mer'sus. 
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