IX 
HABITS OF SOME BIRDS 
209 
fragments have been levelled into one continuous sheet. If 
during the earthquake 1 which in 1835 overthrew Concepcion, 
in Chile, it was thought wonderful that small bodies should 
have been pitched a few inches from the ground, what must 
we say to a movement which has caused fragments many tons 
in weight to move onwards like so much sand on a vibrating 
board, and find their level ? I have seen, in the Cordillera of 
the Andes, the evident marks where stupendous mountains 
have been broken into pieces like so much thin crust, and the 
strata thrown on their vertical edges ; but never did any scene, 
like these “ streams of stones,” so forcibly convey to my mind 
the idea of a convulsion, of which in historical records we might 
in vain seek for any counterpart: yet the progress of knowledge 
will probably some day give a simple explanation of this 
phenomenon, as it already has of the so long thought inex¬ 
plicable transportal of the erratic boulders which are strewed 
over the plains of Europe. 
I have little to remark on the zoology of these islands. I have 
before described the carrion-vulture or Polyborus. There are 
some other hawks, owls, and a few small land-birds. The 
waterfowl are particularly numerous, and they must formerly, 
from the accounts of the old navigators, have been much more 
so. One day I observed a cormorant playing with a fish which 
it had caught. Eight times successively the bird let its prey 
go, then dived after it, and although in deep water, brought it 
each time to the surface. In the Zoological Gardens I have 
seen the otter treat a fish in the same manner, much as a cat 
does a mouse: I do not know of any other instance where 
dame Nature appears so wilfully cruel. Another day, having 
placed myself between a penguin (Aptenodytes demersa) and 
the water, I was much amused by watching its habits. It was 
a brave bird ; and till reaching the sea, it regularly fought and 
drove me backwards. Nothing less than heavy blows would 
have stopped him ; every inch he gained he firmly kept, standing 
cependant rangees, comme si elles avoient ete amoncelees negligemment pour 
remplir des ravins. On ne se lassoit pas d’admirer les effets prodigieux de la 
nature.”— Pernety , p, 526. 
1 An inhabitant of Mendoza, and hence well capable of judging, assured me 
that, during the several years he had resided on these islands, he had never felt the 
slightest shock of an earthquake. 
P 
