PENGUINS 
Penguins are as graceful in water as they are awkward on land. Com¬ 
pletely unfitted for flight, the wings of these birds are reduced in size and 
flattened, forming perfect swimming paddles. These paddles or flippers 
move simultaneously in the water. Observed from the decks of ships, pen¬ 
guins have often been mistaken for dolphins as they leap through the surf. 
Unlike flying birds, which have large keels for the attachment of 
flying muscles, the penguins have enlarged shoulder blades to which the 
powerful muscles that drive the flippers are attached. 
With a single leap, the penguin can leave the water, landing with 
both feet on passing ice floes. Once ashore, the scale-like and close-fitting 
feathers are given a thorough shaking to rid them of water. The importance 
of this is seen when one considers the extreme Antarctic cold that many 
species must withstand. This shaking is not done in the manner of a dog 
emerging from the water. The penguin’s body does not move; the skin, 
however, is vibrated by a unique set of muscles. A dense layer of fat just 
under the skin gives the bird added protection. 
Standing erect, its four toes pointed forward and its now useless flip¬ 
pers drooping, the penguin resembles a flatfooted little man in a full-dress 
suit. The pure white breast and the gray or blue-gray back is fairly uni¬ 
form in all the species. Some species, however, exhibit distinctive mark¬ 
ings. The king penguin, found in abundance in the Straits of Magellan 
and the Falkland Islands, displays bright orange patches on the head and 
neck. The rock hopper, a species that inhabits islands off the coast of South 
Africa, is perhaps the most colorful of the group. Its head is adorned 
with long golden feathers. 
Penguins range in size from the little sixteen inch blue penguin of 
Australia and New Zealand, to the enormous and dignified emperor, an 
Antarctic species which attains a height of four feet and weighs from sixty 
to seventy pounds. 
Penguins: Emperor Penguin. 
Cape Penguin. 
