THE PENGUIN. 
m 
whole tribe have all above the knee hid within the belly; 
and nothing appears but two short legs, or feet, as some 
would call them, that seem stuck under the rump, and upon 
which the animal is very awkwardly supported. They 
seem, when sitting or attempting to walk, like a dog that 
has been taught to sit up, or to move a minuet. Their short 
legs drive the body in progression from side to side ; and, 
were they not assisted by their wings, they could scarcely 
move faster than a tortoise. 
This awkward position of the legs, which so unqualifies 
them for living upon land, adapts them admirably for a resi- 
dence in water ; in that, the legs placed behind the moving 
body, pushes it forward with greater velocity ; and these 
birds, like Indian canoes, are the swiftest in the water, by 
having their paddles in the rear. 
They are also covered more warmly all over the body with 
feathers, than any other birds whatever ; so that the sea 
seems entirely their element. 
The Patagonian Penguin weighs about forty pounds, 
and is four feet three inches in length. The bill measures 
four inches and a half, but is slender. The head, throat, 
and hind part of the neck are brown, the back of a deep 
ash colour, and all the under parts white. The Magellanic 
penguin is about the size of a goose ; the upper parts of 
the plumage are black, and the under white. These birds 
Walk erect with their heads on high, their fin-like wings 
hanging down like arms; so that to see them at a distance, 
they look like so many children with white aprons." Hence 
they are said to unite in themselves the qualities of men, 
fowls, and fishes. Like men they are upright ; like fowls 
they are feathered ; and like fishes, they have fin-like in- 
struments, that beat the water before, and serve for all the 
purposes of swimming rather than flying. 
There are crested penguins at Faukland’s island, which 
are very beautiful birds ; and there is a species at New 
Zealand not larger than a teal. 
All the species feed upon fish ; and seldom come ashore, 
® X( ' e pt in the breeding season. Their flesh is rank and 
hshy ; though our sailors say, that it is pretty good eating. 
In some the flesh is so tough, and the leathers so thick, 
mat they stand the blow of a scymitar without injury. 
• .. * e penguin lays but one egg; and, in frequented shores, 
m found to burrow like a rabbit; sometimes three or four 
jme possession of one hole, and hatch their young together, 
he egg of the penguin is very large for the size of the 
