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The Galapagos Island Penguin



THE GALAPAGOS ISLAND PENGUIN


(,Spheniscus mendiculus)


By S. Porter


To those who are accustomed to thinking that penguins inhabit

only the cold and inhospitable lands of the far south it will be some¬

what of a surprise to know that a species of these birds inhabits a

group of islands actually lying on the equator, this is the Galapagos

Island Penguin. I had the good fortune whilst in Bermuda of seeing

five of these penguins at the Government Aquarium. They were

collected from the Galapagos Islands by Mr. Louis Mowbray, who

was cruising round these islands in Mr. Vincent Astor’s yacht, some few

years ago. Mr. Mowbray is the originator and patron of the Bermuda

Aquarium, where a collection of the amazing fish from Bermudan and

Galapagan waters are kept under ideal conditions. Besides being an

ardent ichthyologist, Mr. Mowbray is a keen ornithologist, and keeps

several rare birds under ideal conditions. The penguins have an

extremely well planned pool made of concrete and coral and filled with

fresh sea water, which is constantly flowing in, in this pool are kept

shoals of small fish, so that the birds have a constant supply of live

food. Their agility in catching their food is amazing. Unfortunately,

the birds, when they have fed still continue to chase and catch the

fish and out of exuberance of spirit kill a great many, just letting them

fall to the bottom of the water.


Most interesting was the fact that one of these birds was sitting

on a couple of eggs, which had been laid in a small shelter ; they were

due to hatch in a week’s time after I left Bermuda. The top of the

enclosure was opened up for me to see the sitting bird, and also to

take some photographs. The sitting bird very obligingly lifted herself

up and showed the two large white eggs. She seemed very solicitous

about their welfare, repeatedly touching them and turning them over.

Our intrusion didn’t seem to frighten the sitting bird at all, and after

the photos were taken she settled down on the eggs again.


Contrary to the general notion that penguins do not build bulky

nests, this pair had seized with alacrity on a quantity of coarse reeds,

which had been given to them and constructed quite a fair-sized nest.



