307 
Professor Moseley gives the following account (Voy. Chall., Zool. vol. ii. p. 123) of the breeding- 
habits of this Penguin at Marion Island in December 1883 : — 
“ Most interesting, however, by far amongst all rookeries of Penguins which I have seen was one 
of the King Penguins, which I met with a little further along the shore. The rookery was in a 
space of perfectly flat ground of about an acre in extent. It was divided into two irregular portions, 
a larger and smaller, by some grassy mounds. The flat space itself had a filthy black slimy surface, 
but the soil was trodden hard and flat. About two thirds of the space of one of the portions of the 
rookery, the larger one, was occupied by King Penguins, standing bolt upright, with their beaks 
upturned, side by side, as thick as they could pack, and jostling one another as one disturbed them. 
Penguins were to be seen coming from and going to the sea from the rookery, but singly, 
and not in companies like the Crested Penguins. The King Penguins when disturbed made a loud 
sound like ‘ urr-urr^irr: They run with their bodies held perfectly upright, getting over the ground 
pretty fast, and do not stop at all. A good many were in bad plumage, moulting, but there were 
plenty also in the finest plumage. On the small area of the rookery, which consisted of a flat space 
sheltered all round by grass slopes, and which formed a sort of bay amongst these, communicating 
with the larger area by two comparatively narrow passages, was the breeding-establishment. 
“ These birds are said by some observers to set apart regular separate spaces in their rookeries 
for moulting, for birds in clean plumage not breeding, and again for breeding-birds. Here the 
breeding-ground was quite separate, and the young and breeding-pairs were confined to this smaller 
sheltered area. This was the only King-Penguin rookery which I saw in full action.” 
The Pev. Mr. Eaton writes (Zool. Kerg. Isl. p. 153):-“ In December and January small parties 
of these Penguins come into sheltered inlets to moult, . . . There are so few land animals on 
Kerguelen Island that the unwonted sight of people walking never failed to attract the notice of^ the 
King Penguins. Standing at their ease in their sheltered hollows they uttered as it were derisive 
cries from time to time while the strangers laboured through the Jzorella. Seldom did they take the 
trouble to stir when anyone approached them, but remaining in a group, some standing still, others 
lying down, they quietly awaited the progress of events. Their unconsciousness of danger was singu- 
larly shown by the following incident. One day while grappling for Algce in Swain’s Bay, I came 
with one of the men upon six ‘ Kings ’ in a group. Seeing that some of them had finished moulting 
and were well coloured, we walked up to them, seized the two finest by their necks, and sat down 
upon their backs. The others stayed beside us unconcerned at the fate of their companions, though 
they were beating the ground beneath us with their wings and gasping for breath within a yard or so 
of them. ‘ What shall be will be ’ ; so they made themselves comfortable, and they were not 
molested.” 
The egg of this Penguin is of a remarkable shape, being perfectly pyriform. I have before me 
now two specimens from Macquarie Island. Both are alike in this respect, although one appears to 
have the apex a little more produced than the other. The more regular pear-shaped one measures 
exactly four inches in length by three inches in breadth, and is of a pale greenish white ; the shell is 
of close texture, with a roughened surface, the whole of it being covered with prominent papillae, 
which are larger and more thickly spread around the central circumference. The othei egg gives a 
measurement only one eighth of an inch shorter by one sixteenth narrower ; consequently the more 
produced appearance is due rather to shape than size. It likewise has a rough surface, but it wants 
the papillae, and the entire shell is stained and smudged to an unequal yellowish-brown colour. These 
eggs were collected on Macquarie Island on the 19th November, which fixes the bieeding-time of this 
Penguin. 
2 R 2 
