Musr 
:rM. SCIENCE 
BULLETIN 
2. 5- 
■ new 
fe 
athei-s ,,t" til 
le uii])er hi 
■east 
revea 
:■ am 
tie I 
liar i>atclits aix- yc-lli 
ightl> 
•ith no 
suggestion 
of the lirill 
iant 1 
irangt 
no liRODKi.Yx iNSTiTrric 
growth of black feathers. Th 
a pale Nellowish tinge. Th 
brighter than the breast, but \vi 
hue of the mature plumage. The characteristic, subtle, greenish- 
_\'ellow gloss or "bloom," however, makes its appearance on the crown 
of the head .soon after the down has entirelx' disajijieared. The young 
king jienguiu is then a less glorified re])lica of its parents, with a weaker, 
whollv blackish bill.* 
We ob,ser\-ed molting adult king penguins throughout our stay at 
South Georgia, so that the .season of this function, like that of laying, 
would a]ipear to permit of great individual latitude. Discarding the old 
plumage .seems to re.semble the same process among the /'\xi>\r,7i.< ]ienguins, 
described elsewhere in this paper. Follo\\iug the molt of the king 
penguin's feathers, the horny, orange shields on the mandible flake off, 
exposing fresh surfaces beneath. On the basis of a single observation I 
venture the as.sertion that these birds finst shed their mandibular .shields 
at the end of their second summer, possibly ju.st before the>- migrate to 
sea. At an\' rate I .saw on February 25, 1913, at Possession Ba}', a 
Yearling which had cast the black lateral plates of its rami, the newh- 
ex]iosed surfaces being ]iure white. 
Apparent vanity and aloofness are two marked traits of the king 
penguins. They dwell within a stone's throw of Pygosaiis penguins, play 
in the same glacial streams and ponds as the latter, and follow the same 
vocation of deep-sea fishers, yet the societ\' of the two species is almo.st 
inviolably distinct. In only one instance did I find a king jjenguin as,sociat- 
ing with its smaller relatives. This was on February 28, near the Possession 
Bay colony, when one king w-as seen trotting along shore in company 
with a fiock of johnnies ( /'. papim). The sight was so unusal that 
experienced sealers from the /'(?/,vi'',s crew hatl ne\-er seen the like. They 
laughed at the lone king, and inferred that it must ha\e been a pariah 
among its kind. King penguins commonly dej)ort themselves in an 
amusingl\- lofty manner toward human beings, pa_\-ing .slight attention to 
a man's ipiiet intrusion into their midst. If they are annoyed, they 
march awa\-, slowl\ and with an air of iiuliilerence, until they have been 
actually frightened b\ aliu^e, when tlie> fall upon their breasts and scurry- 
on all fours. I have .seen a fox terrier ])ut a whole band of kings to 
