SPHENISCINiE. 
I'ather  short  and  depressed,  the  anterior  ones  united  by  a web  ; the  hind  toe  very  small,  and  almost 
entirely  connected  to  the  inner  side  of  the  tarsus ; the  claws  large,  depressed,  and  very  slightly  curved. 
The  species  of  this  genus  are  found  in  high  southern  latitudes.  Mr.  G.  Bennett  has  described  particularly  a colony 
of  these  birds,  which  covers  an  extent  of  thirty  or  forty  acres  at  the  north  end  of  Macquarrie  Island,  in  the  South 
Pacific  Ocean.  The  number  of  penguins  collected  together  in  this  spot  is  immense,  but  it  would  be  almost  impossible 
to  guess  at  it  with  any  near  approach  to  truth,  as,  during  the  whole  of  the  day  and  night,  thirty  or  forty  thousand  of 
them  are  continually  landing,  and  an  equal  number  going  to  sea.  They  are  arranged,  when  on  shore,  in  as  compact  a 
fanner,  and  in  as  regular  ranks,  as  a regiment  of  soldiers,  and  are  classed  with  the  greatest  order ; the  young  birds  being 
one  situation,  the  moulting  birds  in  another,  the  sitting  hens  in  a third,  the  clean  birds  in  a fourth,  &c. ; and  so 
strictly  do  birds  in  similar  condition  congregate,  that,  should  a bird  that  is  moulting  intrude  itself  among  those  which 
'‘I’e  clean,  it  is  immediately  ejected  from  among  them.  The  females  hatch  the  eggs  by  keeping  them  close  between 
*heir  thighs ; and,  if  approached  during  the  time  of  incubation,  move  away,  carrying  the  eggs  with  them.  At  this  time 
male  bird  goes  to  sea  and  collects  food  for  the  female,  which  becomes  very  fat.  After  the  young  is  hatched,  both 
parents  go  to  sea,  and  bring  home  food  for  it ; it  soon  becomes  so  fat  as  scarcely  to  be  able  to  walk,  the  old  birds  getting 
^^I’y  thin.  They  sit  quite  upright  in  their  roosting-places,  and  walk  in  the  erect  position  until  they  arrive  at  the  beach, 
"'ben  they  throw  themselves  on  their  breasts,  in  order  to  encounter  the  very  heavy  sea  met  with  at  their  landing-place. 
!•  Apt.  Forsteri  G.  R.  Gray,  Ann.  of  Nat.  Hist.  1844.  p.  315.  — 
^Ptenodytes  patachonica  Forst.  Comment.  Goett.  iii.  p.  137. ; Apt. 
Patagonica  Forst.  Icon.  ined.  81.,  Descr.  Anim.  p.  347.,  Penn.  Gen. 
Birds,  pi.  14.^  Mill.  Illustr.  pi.  20. 
2.  Apt.  PennantiiG.Vi.  Gray,  Ann.  of  Nat.  Hist.  ]844.p.315.  — 
Patagonian  Penguin,  Penn.  Phil.  Trans.  58.pl.;  Pinguinaria  pata- 
chonica Shaw,  Nat.  Misc.  pi.  409.,  Reg.  Anim  (D'Orb.)  Ois.  t.  90. 
f.  1.,  Sonn.  Voy.  Ind.  t.  113.^  ; Apt.  longirostris  Scop.  ? 
July,  184fi. 
