ANTARCTIC 
 PENGUINS
 
 ANTARCTIC 
 
 PENGUINS 
 
 A STUDY Of THEIR SOCIAL HABITS 
 BY 
 
 DR. G. MURRAY LEVICK, R.N. 
 
 ZOOLOGIST TO THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 
 
 [1910-1918] 
 
 
 NEW YORK 
 McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY 
 
 1914
 
 Printed in England
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 1 
 
 PART I 
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 17 
 
 PART II 
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE ADELIE PENGUIN 51 
 
 APPENDIX 119 
 
 PART III 
 
 McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 125 
 
 A SHORT NOTE ON EMPEROR PENGUINS 134 
 
 20509&2 
 
 ^^^^XVJ^NSS
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 " Occasionally an unaccountable ' broodiness ' seemed 
 
 to take possession of the penguins " frontispiece 
 
 To face p. 
 
 An angry Adelie 2 
 
 Dozing 4 
 
 Waking up, stretching, and yawning 4 
 
 Pack-ice 8 
 
 Heavy seat in the autumn 8 
 
 " throw up masses of ice" 10 
 
 " which are frozen into a compact mass " 10 
 
 " and later, form the beautiful terraces of the ice- foot " 1 4 
 
 Penguins at the rookery 14 
 
 In the foreground a mated pair have begun to build 20 
 
 The rookery beginning to Jill up 
 
 " The hens would keep up this peck-pecking hour after 
 
 hour'" 24 
 
 An affectionate couple 24 
 " Side by side . . . nests of very big stones and nests 
 
 of very small stones " 26 
 
 On the march to the rookery 28 
 
 vii
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1o face p- 
 
 Part of the line of approaching birds, several miles 
 
 in length 
 
 Arriving at the rookery 32, 34 
 
 aa 
 
 Adelies arriving 
 
 A cock carrying a stone to his nest 
 
 Several interesting things are taking place here 38 
 Three cocks in rivalry 
 
 Two of the cocks squaring up for battle 40 
 
 Hard at it 42 
 
 The end of the battle 42 
 The proposal 
 
 Cocks fighting for hens 46, 48 
 
 Penguin on nest * 
 
 Showing the position of the two eggs 50 
 
 An Adelie in "ecstatic" attitude 50 
 
 Floods 52 
 
 Flooded 54 
 
 A nest with stones of mixed sizes 54 
 " Hour after hour . . . they fought again and again" 56 
 
 A nest on a rock 58 
 " One after another, the rest of the party followed him " 58 
 
 A joy ride 60 
 
 A knot of penguins on the ice- foot 62 
 
 An Adelie leaping from the water 64 
 viii
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1o face p. 
 
 An Adelie leaping four feet high and ten feet long 66 
 
 Jumping on to slippery ice 68 
 " When they succeeded in pushing one of their 
 
 number over, all would crane their necks 
 
 over the edge" 70 
 Diving flat into shallow water 72, 74, 76, 78 
 
 Adelies " porpoising " 78 
 
 A perfect dive into deep water 80 
 
 Sea-leopards " lurk beneath the overhanging ledges " 82 
 
 A sea-leopard' 1 s head 84 
 
 A sea-leopard 10 ft. 6 in. long 86 
 
 A young sea-leopard on sea-iee 86 
 " With graceful arching of his neck, appeared to 
 
 assure her of his readiness to take charge "" 88 
 
 " The chicks began to appear"" 90 
 
 An Adelie being side 90 
 
 Method of feeding the young 92 
 
 Profile of an Adelie chick 94 
 
 A task becoming impossible 96 
 
 Adelie with chick twelve days old 98 
 
 A couple with their chicks 100 
 Adelie penguins have a strong love of climbing 
 
 for its own sake 102 
 Adelies on the ice-foot 104, 106, 108 
 
 ix
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The reason for this state of things is that there is 
 no food of any description to be had inland. Ages 
 back, a different state of things existed : tropical 
 forests abounded, and at one time, the seals ran 
 about on shore like dogs. As conditions changed, 
 these latter had to take to the sea for food, with the 
 result that their four legs, in course of time, gave 
 place to wide paddles or " flippers," as the penguins' 
 wings have done, so that at length they became 
 true inhabitants of the sea. 
 
 Were the Sea-Leopards* (the Adelies' worst 
 enemy) to take to the land again, there would be a 
 speedy end to all the southern penguin rookeries. 
 As these, however, are inhabited only during four 
 and a half months of the year, the advantage to 
 the seals in growing legs again would not be great 
 enough to influence evolution in that direction. At 
 the same time, I wonder very much that the sea- 
 leopards, who can squirm along at a fair pace 
 on land, have not crawled up the few yards of ice- 
 foot intervening between the water and some of 
 the rookeries, as, even if they could not catch 
 the old birds, they would reap a rich harvest among 
 the chicks when these are hatched. Fortunately 
 however they never do this. 
 
 * Sea-Leopard = Stenorhinchus leptonyx. 
 2
 
 FIG. 1. AX AXGKY ADKLIE 
 
 (I' a fie 3)
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The wings of Ad^lies, like those of the other 
 penguins, have taken the form of paddles, and are 
 covered with very fine scale-like feathers. Their 
 legs being very short, they walk slowly, with a 
 waddling gait, but can travel at a fair pace over 
 snow or ice by falling forward on to their breasts, 
 and propelling themselves with all four limbs. 
 
 To continue the sketch, I quote two other 
 writers : 
 
 M. Racovitza, of the " Belgica " expedition, well 
 describes them as follows : 
 
 " Imagine a little man, standing erect, provided 
 with two broad paddles instead of arms, with head 
 small in comparison with the plump stout body ; 
 imagine this creature with his back covered with a 
 black coat . . . tapering behind to a pointed tail 
 that drags on the ground, and adorned in front 
 with a glossy white breast-plate. Have this creature 
 walk on his two feet, and give him at the same 
 time a droll little waddle, and a pert movement 
 of the head ; you have before you something 
 irresistibly attractive and comical." 
 
 Dr. Louis Gain, of the French Antarctic expe- 
 dition, gives us the following description : 
 
 "The Adelie penguin is a brave animal, and 
 rarely flees from danger. If it happens to be 
 4
 
 . 
 
 FIG. 2. DOZING 
 
 ~ 
 
 . '., 
 
 Fie. 3. \VAKIXG UP, STRETCHING, AND YAM-NINU
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 tormented, it faces its aggressor and ruffles the 
 black feathers which cover its back. Then it takes 
 a stand for combat, the body straight, the animal 
 erect, the beak in the air, the wings extended, not 
 losing sight of its enemy. 
 
 " It then makes a sort of purring, a muffled 
 grumbling, to show that it is not satisfied, and has 
 not lost a bit of its firm resolution to defend itself. 
 In this guarded position it stays on the spot ; some- 
 times it retreats, and lying flat on the ground, 
 pushes itself along with all the force of its claws and 
 wings. Should it be overtaken, instead of trying 
 to increase its speed, it stops, backs up again to 
 face anew the peril, and returns to its position 
 of combat. Sometimes it takes the offensive, 
 throws itself upon its aggressor, whom it punishes 
 with blows of its beak and wings." 
 
 The Adelie penguin is excessively curious, taking 
 great pains to inspect any strange object he may 
 see. When we were waiting for the ship to fetch 
 us home, some of us lived in little tents which we 
 pitched on the snow about fifty yards from the edge 
 of the sea. Parties of penguins from Cape Royds 
 rookery frequently landed here, and almost in- 
 variably the first thing they did on seeing our tents, 
 was at once to walk up the slope and inspect these, 
 
 5
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 walking all round them, and often staying to doze by 
 them for hours. Some of them, indeed, seemed to 
 enjoy our companionship. When you pass on the 
 sea-ice anywhere near a party of penguins, these 
 generally come up to look at you, and we had great 
 trouble to keep them away from the sledge dogs 
 when these were tethered in rows near the hut at 
 Cape Evans. The dogs killed large numbers of 
 them in consequence, in spite of all we could do to 
 prevent this. 
 
 The Adelies, as will be seen in these pages, are 
 extremely brave, and though panic occasionally 
 overtakes them, I have seen a bird return time after 
 time to attack a seaman who was brutally sending 
 it flying by kicks from his sea-boot, before I arrived 
 to interfere. An exact description of the plumage 
 of the Adelie penguins will be found in the Appendix, 
 as it is more especially of their habits that I intend 
 to treat in this work. 
 
 Before describing these, and with a view to making 
 them more intelligible to the general reader, I will 
 proceed to a short explanation. 
 
 The Adelie penguins spend their summer and 
 bring forth their young in the far South. Nesting 
 on the shores of the Antarctic continent, and on the 
 islands of the Antarctic seas, they are always close 
 6
 
 to the water, being dependent on the sea for their 
 food, as are all Antarctic fauna ; the frozen regions 
 inland, for all practical purposes, being barren of 
 both animal and vegetable life. 
 
 Their requirements are few : they seek no shelter 
 from the terrible Antarctic gales, their rookeries in 
 most cases being in open wind-swept spots. In fact, 
 three of the four rookeries I visited were possibly in 
 the three most windy regions of the Antarctic. The 
 reason for this is that only wind-swept places are so 
 kept bare of snow that solid ground and pebbles 
 for making nests are to be found. 
 
 When the chicks are hatched and fully fledged, 
 they are taught to swim, and when this is accom- 
 plished and they can catch food for themselves, both 
 young and old leave the Southern limits of the sea, 
 and make their way to the pack-ice out to the 
 northward, thus escaping the rigors and darkness 
 of the Antarctic winter, and keeping where they 
 will find the open water which they need. For in 
 the winter the seas where they nest are completely 
 covered by a thick sheet of ice which does not 
 break out until early in the following summer. 
 Much of this ice is then borne northward by tide 
 and wind, and accumulates to form the vast rafts 
 of what is called " pack-ice," many hundreds of 
 
 7
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 miles in extent, which lie upon the surface of the 
 Antarctic seas. (Fig. 4.) 
 
 It is to this mass of floating sea-ice that the 
 Adelie penguins make their way in the autumn, 
 but as their further movements here are at present 
 something of a mystery, the question will be 
 discussed at greater length presently. 
 
 When young and old leave the rookery at the 
 end of the breeding season, the new ice has not yet 
 been formed, and their long journey to the pack 
 has to be made by water, but they are wonderful 
 swimmers and seem to cover the hundreds of miles 
 quite easily. 
 
 Arrived on the pack, the first year's birds remain 
 there for two winters. It is not until after their 
 first moult, the autumn following their departure 
 from the rookery, that they grow the distinguishing 
 mark of the adult, black feathers replacing the 
 white plumage which has hitherto covered the 
 throat. 
 
 The spring following this, and probably every 
 spring for the rest of their lives, they return South 
 to breed, performing their journey, very often, not 
 only by water, but on foot across many miles 
 of frozen sea. 
 
 For those birds who nest in the southernmost 
 8
 
 FIG. 4. PACK ICE (ON WHICH THE ADELIES WINTER) 
 Two WEDDELL SEALS ARE SEEN ON A FLOE 
 
 FIG. 5. HEAVY SEAS IN THE AUTI:MN 
 
 (Paye 10)
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 rookeries, such as Cape Crozier, this journey must 
 mean for them a journey of at least four hundred 
 miles by water, and an unknown but considerable 
 distance on foot over ice. 
 
 As I am about to describe the manners and 
 customs of Adelie penguins at the Cape Adare 
 rookery, I will give a short description of that spot. 
 
 Cape Adare is situated in lat. 71 14' S. long. 
 170 10' E., and is a neck of land jutting out from 
 the sheer and ice-bound foot-hills of South Victoria 
 Land northwards for a distance of some twenty 
 miles. 
 
 For its whole length, the sides of this Cape 
 rise sheer out of the sea, affording no foothold 
 except at the extreme end, where a low beach 
 has been formed, nestling against the steep side of 
 the cliff which here rises almost perpendicularly to 
 a height of over 1000 feet. 
 
 Hurricanes frequently sweep this beach, so that 
 snow never settles there for long, and as it is com- 
 posed of basaltic material freely strewn with 
 rounded pebbles, it forms a convenient nesting site, 
 and it was on this spot that I made the observations 
 set forth in the following pages. 
 
 Viewed before the penguins' arrival in the spring, 
 and after recent winds had swept the last snowfalls 
 
 9
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 away, the rookery is seen to be composed of a 
 series of undulations and mounds, or " knolls," 
 while several sheets of ice, varying in size up to some 
 hundreds of yards in length and one hundred yards 
 in width, cover lower lying ground where lakes 
 of thaw water form in the summer. Though 
 doubtless the ridges and knolls of the rookery 
 owe their origin mainly to geological phenomena, 
 their contour has been much added to as, year 
 by year, the penguins have chosen the higher 
 eminences for their nests ; because their guano, 
 which thickly covers the higher ground, has 
 protected this from weathering and the denuding 
 effect of the hurricanes which pass over it at 
 certain seasons and tend to carry away the small 
 fragments of ground that have been split up by the 
 frost. 
 
 The shores of this beach are protected by a 
 barrier of ice-floes which are stranded there by the 
 sea in the autumn. These floes become welded 
 together and form the "ice-foot" frequently re- 
 ferred to in these pages, and photographs showing 
 how this is done are seen on Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8. 
 
 At the back of the rookery, nesting sites are 
 to be seen stretching up the steep cliff to a height 
 of over 1000 feet, some of them being almost 
 10
 
 FIG. 6. ' . . . THROW UP MASSES OF ICE, 
 
 FIG. 7. "... WHICH ARE FROZEN INTO A COMPACT MASS AS 
 WINTER APPROACHES" 
 
 (Page 10)
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 inaccessible, so difficult is the climb which the 
 penguins have made to reach them. 
 
 On Duke of York Island, some twenty miles 
 south of the Cape Adare rookery, another breeding- 
 place has been made. This is a small colony only, 
 as might be expected. Indeed it is difficult to see 
 why the penguins chose this place at all whilst room 
 still exists at the bigger rookery, because Duke of 
 York Island, until late in the season, is cut off from 
 open water by many miles of sea-ice, so that with 
 the exception of an occasional tide crack, or seals' 
 blow holes, the birds of that rookery have no means 
 of getting food except by making a long journey on 
 foot. When the arrivals were streaming up to Cape 
 Adare many were seen to pass by, making in a 
 straight line for Duke of York Island, and so adding 
 another twenty miles on foot to the journey they 
 had already accomplished. 
 
 When the time arrived for the birds to feed, some 
 open leads had formed about half way across the 
 bay, and those of the Duke of York colony were to 
 be seen streaming over the ice for many miles on 
 their way between the water and their nests. They 
 seem to think nothing of long journeys, however, 
 as in the early season, when unbroken sea-ice in- 
 tervened between the two rookeries, parties of 
 
 11
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 penguins from Cape Adare actually used to march 
 out and meet their Duke of York friends half way 
 over, presumably for the pleasure of a chat. 
 
 To realize what this meant, we must remember that 
 an Adelie penguin's eyes being only about twelve 
 inches above the ground when on the march, his 
 horizon is only one mile distant. Thus from Cape 
 Adare he could just see the top of the mountain on 
 Duke of York Island peeping above the horizon on 
 the dearest day. In anything like thick weather he 
 could not see it at all, and probably he had never 
 been there. So in the first place, what was it that 
 impelled him to go on this long journey to meet his 
 friends, and when so impelled, what instinct pointed 
 out the :way ? This of course merely brings us to 
 the old question of migratory instinct, but in the 
 case of the penguin, its horizon is so very short that 
 it is quite evident he possesses a special sense of 
 direction, in addition to the special sense which 
 urged him to go and meet the Duke of York Island 
 contingent, and I may here remark that when we 
 were returning to New Zealand in the summer of 
 1913, we passed troops of penguins swimming in the 
 open sea far out of sight of land, an unanswerable 
 reply to those naturalists who still maintain that 
 migrating birds must rely upon their eyes for 
 12
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
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 13
 
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 14
 
 FIG. 8. 
 
 . . AND LATER, FORM THE BEAUTIFUL TERRACES OF 
 THE ICE-FOOT" 
 
 Fie. 9. PENGUINS AT THE KOOKERV 
 
 (f'aye 18)
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 guidance, and this remark applies equally to the 
 penguins we found on the northern limits of the 
 pack-ice, some five hundred miles from the rookeries 
 to which they would repair the following year. 
 
 The exact whereabouts of the Adelie penguins 
 during the winter months has been much discussed 
 by different writers. It is agreed that they repair 
 to the pack-ice, but our knowledge of the move- 
 ments of this pack is very vague at the present 
 time, and so unfortunately I can give but a rough 
 idea of the subject. 
 
 I have collected and noted down the latest 
 evidence for the benefit of the zoologists of future 
 expeditions who may wish to investigate the matter 
 further, and 1 am indebted for nearly the whole of 
 it to Commander Harry L. Pennell, R.N., com- 
 mander of the Terra Nova from 1910 to 1913, 
 who kindly drew up for me Tables A and B (see 
 pp. 13 and 14). 
 
 Probably the information which more nearly con- 
 cerns the penguins of Cape Adare rookery will be 
 found in Table A. The birds from Cape Crozier 
 and Cape Royds rookeries must have some four 
 hundred miles further to travel when they go North 
 in the autumn than those at Cape Adare. 
 
 15
 
 PART I 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 Diary from October 13 to November 3, describing the 
 arrival of the Adelie penguins at the rookery, and 
 habits during the periods of mating and building. 
 
 THE first Adelie penguins arrived at the Ridley 
 Beach rookery, Cape Adare, on October 13. A 
 blizzard came on then, with thick drift which 
 prevented any observations being made. The 
 next day, when this subsided, there were no pen- 
 guins to be seen. 
 
 On October 15 two of them were loitering about 
 the beach. During the forenoon they were separate, 
 but in the afternoon they kept company, and 
 walked over to the south-east corner of the rookery 
 under the cliff of Cape Adare, where they were 
 sheltered from the cold breeze. 
 
 On October 16 at 11 A.M. there were about 
 twenty penguins arrived. Several came singly, 
 and one little party of three came up together. 
 On arrival they wandered about by themselves, 
 and stood or walked about the beach, giving one 
 
 B 17
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 the impression of simply hanging about, waiting 
 for something to " turn up." 
 
 By 4 P.M. there must have been close on a 
 hundred penguins at the rookery. It was a calm 
 day and misty, so that I could not see far out 
 across the sea-ice, but so far it was evident that 
 the birds were not arriving in batches, but just 
 dribbling in. They were then for the most part 
 squatting about the rookery, well scattered, some 
 solitary, others in groups, and facing in all direc- 
 tions. (Fig. 9.) They were not on the promi- 
 nences where the nesting sites are, but in the 
 hollows and on the snow of the frozen lakes. 
 There was no sign of love-making or any activity 
 whatever. All were in fine plumage and con- 
 dition. 
 
 During the night of October 16 the number of 
 penguins increased greatly, and on the morning of 
 the 17th there was a thin sprinkling scattered over 
 the rookery. (Fig. 11.) A few were in pairs or 
 threes, but more in groups of a dozen or more, and 
 all the birds were very phlegmatic, many of them 
 lying on their breasts, with beaks outstretched, 
 apparently asleep, and nearly all, as yesterday, in 
 the hollows, though there was no wind, and away 
 from the nesting sites. They were very quiet. 
 18
 
 Probably they were fatigued after their journey ; 
 perhaps also they were waiting the stimulation of a 
 greater crowd before starting their breeding opera- 
 tions. As the guano-covered ridges, on which the 
 old nests are, were fairly soft and the pebbles 
 loose, they were not waiting for higher tempera- 
 tures in order to get to work. 
 
 During October 17 the arrivals became gradually 
 more frequent. They were dribbling up from the 
 sea-ice at the north-end of the beach, and soon 
 made a well-worn track up the ice-foot, whilst a 
 long line of birds approaching in single file, with 
 some gaps, extended to the horizon in a northerly 
 direction. 
 
 During the day I noticed some penguins taking 
 possession of old nests on the ridges. These mostly 
 squatted in the nests without any attempt at 
 repairing them or rearrangement of any sort. 
 Afterwards I found that they were unmated hens 
 waiting for mates to come to them, and that this 
 was a very common custom among them. ( Fig. 10. ) 
 If two occupied nests within reach of one another 
 they would stretch out their necks and peck at 
 each other. Their endeavour seemed to be to peck 
 each other's tongue, and this they frequently did, 
 but generally struck the soft parts round the margin 
 
 19
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 of the bills, which often became a good deal swollen 
 in consequence. Often also their beaks would 
 become interlocked. They would keep up this 
 peck-pecking hour after hour in a most relentless 
 fashion. (Fig. 12.) On one occasion I saw a hen 
 succeed in driving another off one of the old nests 
 which she occupied. The vanquished one squatted 
 on the ground a few yards away, with rumpled 
 feathers and " huffy " appearance, whilst the other 
 walked on to the nest and assumed the " ecstatic " 
 attitude (page 46). Nothing but animosity could 
 have induced this act, as thousands of old unoccu- 
 pied nests lay all around. 
 
 About 9 P.M. a light snowstorm came on, 
 and those few birds who had taken possession 
 of nests, left them, and all now lay in the hollows, 
 nestling into the fine drift which soon covered the 
 ground to the extent of a few inches. A group of 
 about a dozen penguins which arrived near the ice- 
 foot in the morning, halted on the sea-ice without 
 ascending the little slope leading to the rookery, 
 and stayed there all day. 
 
 With the few exceptions I have noted above, all 
 the birds that had arrived so far either were 
 much fatigued, or else they realized that they had 
 come a little too soon and were waiting for some
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 psychological moment to arrive, for they were all 
 strangely quiet and inactive. 
 
 On October 18 the weather cleared and a 
 fair number of penguins started to build their 
 nests. The great majority however, apparently 
 resting, still sat about. Those that built took 
 their stones from old nests, as at present so many 
 of these lay unoccupied. They made quite large 
 nests, some inches high at the sides, with a com- 
 fortable hollow in the middle to sit in. The stone 
 carrying (Fig. 20) was done by the male birds, the 
 hens keeping continual guard over the nest, as 
 otherwise the pair would have been robbed of the 
 fruits of their labours as fast as they were acquired. 
 
 As I strolled through the rookery, most of 
 the birds took little or no notice of me. Some, 
 however, swore at me very savagely, and one 
 infuriated penguin rushed at me from a distance of 
 some ten yards, seizing the leg of my wind-proof 
 trousers. In the morning quite a large number lay 
 down on the sea-ice, a few yards short of the 
 rookery, content apparently to have got so far. 
 They lay there all day, motionless on there breasts, 
 with their chins outstretched on the snow. 
 
 By the evening of October 18 most of the 
 penguins had gathered in little groups on the nest- 
 
 21
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 covered eminences, but there was at that time 
 ample room for all, there being only about three 
 or four thousand arrived. Although there were 
 several open water holes against bergs frozen into 
 the sea-ice some half mile or so away, not a single 
 bird attempted to get food. 
 
 At 6 P.M. the whole rookery appeared to 
 sleep, and the ceaseless chattering of the past 
 hours gave place to a dead and impressive silence, 
 though here and there an industrious little bird 
 might be seen busily fetching stone after stone 
 to his nest. 
 
 At that date it was deeply dusk at midnight, 
 though the sun was very quickly rising in altitude, 
 and continuous daylight would soon overtake us. 
 
 By the morning of October 19 there had been 
 a good many more arrivals, but the rookery was 
 not yet more than one-twentieth part full. All 
 the birds were fasting absolutely. Nest building 
 was now in full swing, and the whole place waking 
 up to activity. Most of the pebbles for the new 
 nests were being taken from old nests, but a great 
 deal of robbery went on nevertheless. Depredators 
 when caught were driven furiously away, and 
 occasionally chased for some distance, and it was 
 curious to see the difference in the appearance 
 22
 
 t ';..,>: ^i $, 
 
 nf I'l'n.'/j J 
 
 . : ' '= i 
 
 - ,
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 between the fleeing thief and his pursuer. As the 
 former raced and ducked about among the nests, 
 doubling on his tracks, and trying by every means 
 to get lost in the crowd and so rid himself of 
 his pursuer, his feathers lay close back on his 
 skin, giving him a sleek look which made him 
 appear half the size of the irate nest-holder who 
 sought to catch him, with feathers ruffled in indig- 
 nation. This at first led me to think that the hens 
 were larger than the cocks, as it was generally the 
 hen who was at home, and the cock who was after 
 the stones, but later I found that sex makes 
 absolutely no difference in the size of the birds, 
 or indeed in their appearance at all, as seen by the 
 human eye. After mating, their behaviour as well 
 as various outward signs serve to distinguish male 
 from female. Besides this certain differences in 
 their habits, which I will describe in another 
 place, are to be noted. 
 
 The consciousness of guilt, however, always 
 makes a penguin smooth his feathers and look 
 small, whilst indignation has the opposite effect. 
 Often when observing a knoll crowded with 
 nesting penguins, I have seen an apparently under- 
 sized individual slipping quietly along among the 
 nests, and always by his subsequent proceedings he 
 
 23
 
 ADfiLIE PENGUINS 
 
 has turned out to be a robber on the hunt for 
 his neighbours 1 stones. The others, too, seemed to 
 know it, and would have a peck at him as he passed 
 them. 
 
 At last he would find a hen seated unwarily 
 on her nest, slide up behind her, deftly and silently 
 grab a stone, and run off triumphantly with it 
 to his mate who was busily arranging her own 
 home. Time after time he would return to the 
 same spot, the poor depredated nest-holder being 
 quite oblivious of the fact that the side of her nest 
 which lay behind her was slowly but surely vanish- 
 ing stone by stone. 
 
 Here could be seen how much individual character 
 makes for success or failure in the efforts of the 
 penguins to produce and rear their offspring. 
 There are vigilant birds, always alert, who seem 
 never to get robbed or molested in any way : these 
 have big high nests, made with piles of stones. 
 Others are unwary and get huffed as a result. 
 There are a few even who, from weakness of 
 character, actually allow stronger natured and 
 more aggressive neighbours to rob them under 
 their very eyes. 
 
 In speaking of the robbery which is such a 
 feature of the rookery during nest building, special 
 24
 
 FIG. 12. li THE HENS WOULD KEEP UP THIS PECK-PECKING 
 
 HOUR AFTER HOUR*' 
 
 
 
 FIG. 13. AN AFFECTIONATE COLPLE
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 note must be made of the fact that violence is 
 never under any circumstances resorted to by the 
 thieves. When detected, these invariably beat a 
 retreat, and offer not the least resistance to the 
 drastic punishment they receive if they are caught 
 by their indignant pursuers. The only disputes 
 that ever take place over the question of property 
 are on the rare occasions when a bona-fide mis- 
 understanding arises over the possession of a nest. 
 These must be very rare indeed, as only on one 
 occasion have I seen such a quarrel take place. 
 The original nesting sites being, as I will show, 
 chosen by the hens, it is the lady, in every case, 
 who is the cause of the battle, and when she is 
 won her scoop goes with her to the victor. 
 
 As I grew to know these birds from continued 
 observation, it was surprising and interesting to 
 note how much they differed in character, though 
 the weaker-minded who would actually allow them- 
 selves to be robbed, were few and far between, as 
 might be expected. Few, if any, of these ever 
 could succeed in hatching their young and winning 
 them through to the feathered stage. 
 
 When starting to make her nest, the usual pro- 
 cedure is for the hen to squat on the ground for 
 some time, probably to thaw it, then working with 
 
 25
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 her claws to scratch away at the material beneath 
 her, shooting out the rubble behind her. As she 
 does this she shifts her position in a circular direc- 
 tion until she has scraped out a round hollow. 
 Then the cock brings stones, performing journey 
 after journey, returning each time with one pebble 
 in his beak which he deposits in front of the hen 
 who places it in position. 
 
 Sometimes the hollow is lined with a neat pave- 
 ment of stones placed side by side, one layer deep, 
 on which the hen squats, afterwards building up 
 the sides around her. At other times the scoop 
 would be filled up indiscriminately by a heap of 
 pebbles on which the hen then sat, working herself 
 down into a hollow in the middle. 
 
 Individuals differ, not only in their building 
 methods, but also in the size of the stones they 
 select. Side by side may be seen a nest composed 
 wholly of very big stones, so large that it is a 
 matter for wonder how the birds can carry them, 
 and another nest of quite small stones. (Fig. 14.) 
 
 Different couples seem to vary much in character 
 or mood. Some can be seen quarrelling violently, 
 whilst others appear most affectionate, and the 
 tender politeness of some of these latter toward 
 one another is very pretty to see. (Fig. 13.) 
 26
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 I may here mention that the temperatures were 
 rising considerably by October 19, ranging about 
 zero F. 
 
 During October 20 the stream of arrivals was 
 incessant. Some mingled at once with the crowd, 
 others lay in batches on the sea-ice a few yards 
 short of the rookery, content to have got so far, 
 and evidently feeling the need for rest after their 
 long journey from the pack. The greater part of 
 this journey was doubtless performed by swimming, 
 as they crossed open water, but I think that much 
 of it must have been done on foot over many miles 
 of sea-ice, to account for the fatigue of many of them. 
 
 Their swimming I will describe later. On the 
 ice they have two modes of progression. The first 
 is simple walking. Their legs being very short, 
 their stride amounts at most to four inches. 
 Their rate of stepping averages about one hundred 
 and twenty steps per minute when on the march. 
 
 Their second mode of progression is " toboggan- 
 ing." When wearied by walking or when the 
 surface is particularly suitable, they fall forward on 
 to their white breasts, smooth and shimmering with 
 a beautiful metallic lustre in the sunlight, and push 
 themselves along by alternate powerful little strokes 
 of their legs behind them. 
 
 27
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 When quietly on the march, both walking and 
 tobogganing produce the same rate of progression, 
 so that the string of arriving birds, tailing out in a 
 long line as far as the horizon, appears as a well- 
 ordered procession. I walked out a mile or so 
 along this line, standing for some time watching it 
 tail past me and taking the photographs with which 
 I have illustrated the scene. Most of the little 
 creatures seemed much out of breath, their wheezy 
 respiration being distinctly heard. 
 
 First would pass a string of them walking, then 
 a dozen or so tobogganing. (Fig. 15.) Suddenly 
 those that walked would flop on to their breasts 
 and start tobogganing, and conversely strings of 
 tobogganers would as suddenly pop up on to their 
 feet and start walking. In this way they relieved 
 the monotony of their march, and gave periodical 
 rest to different groups of muscles and nerve- 
 centres. 
 
 The surface of the snow on the sea-ice varied 
 continually, and over any very smooth patches the 
 pedestrians almost invariably started to toboggan, 
 whilst over " bad going " they all had perforce to 
 walk. 
 
 Figs. 16, 17, 18 and 19 present some idea of 
 the procession of these thousands on thousands of 
 28
 
 *
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 penguins as day after day they passed into the 
 rookery. 
 
 When tobogganing, turning to one side or the 
 other is done with one or more strokes of the 
 opposite flipper. When fleeing or chasing, both 
 flippers as well as both feet are used in propulsion, 
 and over most surfaces tobogganing is thus their 
 fastest mode of progression, but when going at full 
 tilt it is also the most exhausting, and after a short 
 spurt in this way they invariably return to the 
 walking position. 
 
 By October 20 many of the nests were complete, 
 and the hens sat in them, though no eggs were to 
 be seen yet. In the middle of one of the frozen 
 lakes rose a little island, well suited for nesting 
 except for the fact that later in the season, prob- 
 ably about the time when the young chicks were 
 hatched, the lake would be thawed and the approach 
 to the island only to be accomplished through 
 about six inches or more of dirty water and ooze. 
 Until then, however, the surface of the lake would 
 remain frozen, and was at this time covered with 
 snow. 
 
 Not a penguin attempted to build its nest on 
 this island, though many passed it or walked over 
 it in crossing the lake. How did they realize that 
 
 29
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 later on they would get dirty every time they 
 journeyed to or from the spot ? 
 
 Not far from this island another mound rose 
 from the lake, but this was connected with the 
 " mainland " by a narrow neck of guano-covered 
 pebbles. This mound was covered with nests, 
 showing that the birds understood this place could 
 always be reached over dry land. Surely this was 
 well worth remarking. 
 
 There was a part of the ice-foot on the south 
 side of the rookery where a track worn by many 
 ascending penguins could be seen, leading from the 
 sea-ice on to the beach. The place was steep and 
 the ice slippery, and, in fact, the track led straight 
 up a most difficult ascent. Not ten yards from 
 this well-worn track a perfectly easy slope led up 
 from the sea-ice to the rookery. The tracks in the 
 freshly fallen snow showed that only one penguin 
 had gone up this way. Presumably the first 
 arrival in that place had taken the difficult path, 
 and all subsequent arrivals blindly followed in his 
 tracks, whilst only one had had the good luck or 
 independence to choose the easier way. 
 
 On October 21 many thousands of penguins 
 arrived from the northerly direction, and poured 
 on to the beach in a continuous stream, the snaky 
 30
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 line of arrivals extending unbroken across the sea- 
 ice as far as the eye could see. 
 
 A great many now started to climb the heights 
 up the precipitous side of Cape Adare and to build 
 their nests as far as the summit, a height of some 
 1000 feet, although there was still room for many 
 thousand more down below. What could be their 
 object, considering the wearisome journeys they 
 would have to make to feed their young, it is 
 impossible to say. It might be the result of the 
 same spirit which made them spread out in little 
 scattered groups over the rookery when only a few 
 had arrived, and that they prefer wider room, only 
 putting up with the greater crowding which ensues 
 later as a necessary evil. There is, however, another 
 explanation which I w r ill discuss in another place. 
 
 At 9 P.M. it was getting dusk, and the rookery 
 comparatively silent, although on some of the 
 knolls two or three birds might be seen still busily 
 working, toddling to and fro fetching stones. The 
 other thousands lay at rest, their white breasts flat 
 on the ground, and only their black beaks and 
 heads visible as they lay with their chins stretched 
 forward on the ground, whilst in place of the 
 massed discord of clamour heard during the day, 
 the separate voices of some of the busy ones 
 
 31
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 were distinct. A fine powdering of snow was 
 falling. 
 
 It would be difficult to estimate the number 
 of penguins that poured into the rookery during 
 the following day. There was no evidence that any 
 pairing had taken place on or before the march, and 
 the birds all had the appearance of being quite 
 independent. 
 
 Far away from the beach the line had become 
 thicker, and was no longer in single file, the 
 progress of the birds being slow and steady, but 
 when within half a mile or so from the beach, 
 excitement seemed to take possession of them, and 
 they would break into a run, hastening over the re- 
 maining distance, the line now being a thin one, 
 with slight curves in it, each bird running, with 
 wide gait, and outstretched flippers working away 
 in unison with its little legs. In fact, the whole 
 air of the line at this time was that of a school- 
 treat arrived in sight of its playing-fields, and 
 breaking into a run in its eagerness to get there. 
 
 Arrived at the rookery, and plunged suddenly 
 amidst the din of that squalling, fighting, struggling 
 crowd, the contrast with the dead silence and 
 loneliness of the pack-ice they had so recently left, 
 was as great a one as can well be imagined ; yet 
 32
 
 :?* 
 
 HHI
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 once there, the birds seemed collected and at home. 
 This was a matter of surprise to me then, but I 
 remember now my own sensations on arriving home 
 after my life in the Antarctic, and that I felt only 
 slightly the sudden return to the bustle of civilization. 
 
 Our presence among them made little or no 
 difference to the penguins. When we passed them 
 closely they would bridle up and swear or even 
 run at us and peck at our legs or batter them with 
 their flippers, but unless their nesting operations 
 were interfered with this attack was short-lived, 
 and the next moment the birds would seem to 
 forget our very existence. If I walked by the side 
 of a long, nest-covered ridge, a low growl arose 
 from every bird as I passed it, and the massed 
 sound, gathering in front and dying away behind 
 as I advanced, reminded me forcibly of the sound 
 of the crowds on the towing-path at the 'Varsity 
 boatrace as the crews pass up the river. 
 
 Walking actually among the nests, your temper 
 is tried sorely, as every bird within reach has 
 a peck at your legs, and occasionally a cock 
 attacks you bravely, battering you with his little 
 flippers in a manner ludicrous at first but aggravat- 
 ing after a time, as the operation is painful and 
 severe enough to leave bruises behind it, and 
 
 c 33
 
 ADfiLIE PENGUINS 
 
 naturally this begins to pall. The courage of 
 these little birds is most remarkable and ad- 
 mirable. 
 
 Our hut, being built on the rookery, could only 
 be approached through crowds of penguins. Those 
 that nested near us seemed quickly to become used 
 to us and to take less notice of us than those 
 farther off. One thing, however, terrified them 
 pitiably. We had to fetch ice for our water 
 from some stranded floes on the ice-foot, and 
 this we did in a little sledge. As we hauled 
 this rattling over the pebbly rookery it made 
 a good deal of noise, and in its path nests were 
 deserted, the occupants fleeing in the greatest con- 
 fusion, a clear road being left for the sledge, whilst 
 on either side a line of penguins was seen retreat- 
 ing in the utmost terror. After about a minute, 
 they returned to their places and seemed to 
 forget the incident, but we were very sorry to 
 frighten them in this way, as we endeavoured to 
 live at peace with them and to molest them as little 
 as possible, and we feared that later on eggs might 
 be spilt from the nests and broken. As time went 
 on, those on the route of the sledge became 
 accustomed even to this, and we were able to 
 choose a course which cleared their nests. 
 34
 
 ^;<V-/* 
 
 M'l*. 
 
 ' *W- 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 A fa 
 
 t 
 
 * 
 
 1-5 02 
 
 o 
 
 2p 
 
 3 w 
 5 - 
 
 - o 
 
 9 GO 
 -, Q
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 Although squabbles and encounters had been 
 frequent since their arrival in any numbers, it now 
 became manifest that there were two very different 
 types of battle ; first, the ordinary quarrelling con- 
 sequent on disputes over nests and the robbery of 
 stones from these, and secondly, the battles between 
 cocks who fought for the hens. These last were 
 more earnest and severe, and were carried to a 
 finish, whereas the first named rarely proceeded to 
 extremes. 
 
 In regard to the mating of the birds, the following 
 most interesting customs seemed to be prevalent. 
 
 The hen would establish herself on an old nest, or 
 in some cases scoop out a hollow in the ground and 
 sit in or by this, waiting for a mate to propose 
 himself. (Fig. 26.) She would not attempt to 
 build while she remained unmated. During the 
 first week of the nesting season, when plenty of 
 fresh arrivals were continually pouring into the 
 rookery, she did not have long to wait as a rule. 
 Later, when the rookery was getting filled up, 
 and only a few birds remained unmated in that 
 vast crowd of some three-quarters of a million, her 
 chances were not so good. 
 
 For example, on November 16 on a knoll thickly 
 populated by mated birds, many of which already 
 
 35
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 had eggs, a hen was observed to have scooped a 
 little hollow in the ground and to be sitting in this. 
 Day after day she sat on looking thinner and 
 sadder as time passed and making no attempt to 
 build her nest. At last, on November 27, she had 
 her reward, for I found that a cock had joined her, 
 and she was busily building her nest in the little 
 scoop she had made so long before, her husband 
 steadily working away to provide her with the 
 necessary pebbles. Her forlorn appearance of the 
 past ten days had entirely given place to an air of 
 occupation and happiness. 
 
 As time went on I became certain that in- 
 variably pairing took place after arrival at the 
 rookery. On October 23 I went to the place where 
 the stream of arrivals was coming up the beach, and 
 presently followed a single bird, which I afterwards 
 found to be a cock, to see what it was going to do. 
 He threaded his way through nearly the whole 
 length of the rookery by himself, avoiding the 
 tenanted knolls where the nests were, by keeping 
 to the emptier hollows. About every hundred yards 
 or so he stopped, ruffled up his feathers, closed his 
 eyes for a moment, then " smoothed himself out " 
 and went on again, thus evidently struggling against 
 desire for sleep after his journey. As he progressed 
 36
 
 IVf- 
 
 FICJ. 19. ADKLIES ARRIVING AT THE KOOKEHY 
 
 V 
 
 FIG. 20. A COCK CARRYING A STONE TO HIS XEST 
 
 (I'luje 21)
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 he frequently poked his little head forward and from 
 side to side, peering up at the knolls, evidently in 
 search of something. 
 
 Arrived at length at the south end of the 
 rookery, he appeared suddenly to make up his 
 mind, and boldly ascending a knoll which was well 
 tenanted and covered with nests, walked straight 
 up to one of these on which a hen sat. There was 
 a cock standing at her side, but my little friend 
 either did not see him or wished to ignore him 
 altogether. He stuck his beak into the frozen 
 ground in front of the nest, lifted up his head and 
 made as if to place an imaginary stone in front of 
 the hen, a most obvious piece of dumb show. The 
 hen took not the slightest notice nor did her mate. 
 
 My friend then turned and walked up to another 
 nest, a yard or so off, where another cock and hen 
 were. The cock flew at him immediately, and 
 after a short fight, in which each used his flippers 
 savagely, he was driven clean down the side of the 
 knoll away from the nests, the victorious cock 
 returning to his hen. The newcomer, with the 
 persistence which characterises his kind, came 
 straight back to the same nest and stood close by 
 it, soon ruffling his feathers and evidently settling 
 himself for a doze, but, I suppose, because he made 
 
 37
 
 AD^LIE PENGUINS 
 
 no further overtures the others took no notice of 
 him at all, as, overcome by sheer weariness, he 
 went to sleep and remained so until I was too cold 
 to await further developments. On my way back 
 to our hut I followed another cock for about thirty 
 yards, when he walked up to another couple at a 
 nest and gave battle to the cock. He, too, was 
 driven off after a short and decisive fight. Soon 
 there were many cocks on the war-path. Little 
 knots of them were to be seen about the rookery, 
 the lust of battle in them, watching and fighting 
 each other with desperate jealousy, and the later 
 the season advanced the more " bersac " they 
 became. 
 
 A typical scene I find described in my notes for 
 October 25 when I was out with my camera, and 
 I mention it as a type of the hundreds that were 
 proceeding simultaneously over the whole rockery, 
 and also because I was able to photograph different 
 stages of the proceedings as follows : 
 
 Fig. 22 shows a group of three cocks engaged 
 in bitter rivalry round a hen who is cowering in 
 her scoop in which she had been waiting as is their 
 custom. She appeared to be bewildered and 
 agitated by the desperate behaviour of the cocks. 
 
 On Fig. 23 a further development is depicted, 
 38
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 and two of the cocks are seen to be squaring up for 
 battle. Close behind and to the right of them are 
 seen (from left to right) the hen and the third cock, 
 who are watching to see the result of the contest, 
 and another hen cowering for protection against a 
 cock with whom she has become established. 
 
 Fig. 24 shows the two combatants hard at it, 
 using their weight as they lean their breasts against 
 one another, and rain in the blows with their power- 
 ful flippers. 
 
 Fig. 25 shows the end of the fight, the victor 
 having rushed the vanquished cock before him out 
 of the crowd and on to a patch of snow on which, 
 as he was too brave to turn and run, he knocked 
 him down and gave him a terrible hammering. 
 
 When his conqueror left him at length, he lay for 
 some two minutes or so on the ground, his heaving 
 breast alone showing that he was alive, so com- 
 pletely exhausted was he, but recovering himself at 
 length he arose and crawled away, a damaged flipper 
 hanging limply by his side, and he took no further 
 part in the proceedings. The victorious bird rushed 
 back up the side of the knoll, and immediately fought 
 the remaining cock, who had not moved from his 
 original position, putting him to flight, and chasing 
 him in and out of the crowd, the fugitive doubling 
 
 39
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 and twisting amongst it in a frantic endeavour to get 
 away, and I quickly lost sight of them. 
 
 Scenes of this kind became so common all over 
 the rookery, that the roar of battle and thuds of 
 blows could be heard continuously, and of the 
 hundreds of such fights, all plainly had their cause 
 in rivalry for the hens. 
 
 When starting to fight, the cocks sometimes peck 
 at each other with their beaks, but always they very 
 soon start to use their flippers, standing up to one an- 
 other and raining in the blows with such rapidity as 
 to make a sound which, in the words of Dr. Wilson, 
 resembles that of a boy running and dragging his 
 hoop-stick along an iron paling. Soon they start 
 "in-fighting," in which position one bird fights right- 
 handed, the other left-handed ; that is to say, one 
 leans his left breast against his opponent, swinging 
 in his blows with his right flippers, the other present- 
 ing his right breast and using his left flipper. My 
 photographs of cocks fighting all show this plainly. 
 It is interesting to note that these birds, though 
 fighting with one flipper only, are ambidextrous. 
 Whilst battering one another with might and main 
 they use their weight at the same time, and as one 
 outlasts the other, he drives his vanquished opponent 
 before him over the ground, as a trained box- 
 40
 
 !'!<;. 22. THREE COCKS IN RIVALRY 
 
 (See page 38) 
 
 FIG. 23. Two OF THE COCKS SQUARING ur FOK BATTLE 
 
 (See page 38)
 
 ing man, when " in-fighting " drives his exhausted 
 opponent round the ring. 
 
 Desperate as these encounters are, I don't think 
 one penguin ever kills another. In many cases 
 blood is drawn. I saw one with an eye put out, 
 and that side of its beak (the right side) clotted 
 with blood, whilst the crimson print of a blood- 
 stained flipper across a white breast was no un- 
 common sight. 
 
 Hard as they can hit with their flippers, however, 
 they are also well protected by their feathers, and 
 being marvellously tough and enduring the end 
 of a hard fight merely finds the vanquished bird 
 prostrate with exhaustion and with most of the 
 breath beaten out of his little body. The victor is 
 invariably satisfied with this, and does not seek to 
 dispatch him with his beak. 
 
 It was very usual to see a little group of cocks 
 gathered together in the middle of one of the 
 knolls squabbling noisily. Sometimes half a dozen 
 would be lifting their raucous voices at one par- 
 ticular bird, then they would separate into pairs, 
 squaring up to one another and emphasizing their 
 remarks from time to time by a few quick blows 
 from their flippers. It seemed that each was in- 
 dignant with the others for coming and spoiling his 
 
 41
 
 chances with a coveted hen, and trying to get them 
 to depart before he went to her. 
 
 It was useless for either to attempt overtures 
 whilst the others were there, for the instant he did 
 so, he would be set upon and a desperate fight 
 begin. Usually, as in the case I described above, 
 one of the little crowd would suddenly " see red " 
 and sail into an opponent with desperate energy, 
 invariably driving him in the first rush down the 
 side of the knoll to the open space surrounding it, 
 where the fight would be fought out, the victor re- 
 turning to the others, until by his prowess and force 
 of character, he would rid himself of them all. Then 
 came his overtures to the hen. He would, as a 
 rule, pick up a stone and lay it in front of her if she 
 were sitting in her " scoop," or if she were standing 
 by it he might himself squat in it. She might take 
 to him kindly, or, as often happened, peck him 
 furiously. To this he would submit tamely, hunch- 
 ing up his feathers and shutting his eyes while she 
 pecked him cruelly. Generally after a little of this 
 she would become appeased. He would rise to his 
 feet, and in the prettiest manner edge up to her, 
 gracefully arch his neck, and with soft guttural 
 sounds pacify her and make love to her. 
 
 Both perhaps would then assume the " ecstatic" 
 42
 
 4 n 
 
 Fin. 24. " HARD AT IT " 
 
 FIG. 25. THE END OF THE BATTLE 
 
 (Page 39)
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 attitude, rocking their necks from side to side as 
 they faced one another (Fig. 26), and after this a 
 perfect understanding would seem to grow up 
 between them, and the solemn compact was made. 
 
 It is difficult to convey in words the daintiness 
 of this pretty little scene. I saw it enacted many 
 dozens of times, and it was wonderful to watch one 
 of these hardy little cocks pacifying a fractious hen 
 by the perfect grace of his manners. 
 
 Fig. 21 is particularly instructive. In the centre 
 of the picture a group of cocks are quarrelling, and 
 on the left-hand side three unmated hens can 
 be seen sitting in their scoops, whilst two of them 
 (the two in front) are receiving overtures from two 
 of the cocks who are making the most of their time 
 whilst the others are fighting. On the right-hand 
 side another cock is seen proposing himself to a 
 fourth hen who seems to be meeting his overtures 
 with the usual show of reluctance. 
 
 Although for the later arrivals a good deal 
 of fighting was necessary before a mate could 
 be secured, it seemed that some got the matter 
 fixed up without any difficulty at all, especially 
 during the earlier days when only a few birds were 
 scattered widely over the rookery. Later, the 
 cocks seemed to watch one another jealously, and 
 
 43
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 to hunt in little batches in consequence. (Figs. 
 27, 28, and 29.) 
 
 From the particulars I have just given it is also 
 evident that a wife and home once obtained could 
 only be kept by dint of further battling and 
 constant vigilance during the first stages of 
 domesticity, when thousands of lusty cocks were 
 pouring into the rookery, and it was not unusual to 
 see a strange cock paying court to a mated hen 
 in the absence of her husband until he returned 
 to drive away the interloper, but I do not think 
 that this ever occurred after the eggs had come and 
 the regular family life begun, couples after this 
 being perfectly faithful to one another. 
 
 The instance I have given of a newly arrived 
 cock by dumb show pretending to take a stone 
 and place it before a mated hen, is typical of 
 the sort of first overture one sees, though more 
 frequently an actual stone was tendered. While on 
 this subject I had better mention a most interesting 
 thing which occurred to one of my companions. 
 One day as he was sitting quietly on some shingle 
 near the ice-foot, a penguin approached him, 
 and after eyeing him for a little, walked right up 
 to him and nibbled gently at one of the legs of 
 his wind-proof trousers. Then it walked away, 
 44
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 picked up a pebble, and came back with it, dropping 
 it on the ground by his side. The only explanation 
 of this occurrence seems to be that the tendering of 
 the stone was meant as an overture of friendship. 
 
 On October 26 there was no abatement in the 
 stream of arrivals. The cock-fighting continued, 
 and many of them, temporarily disabled, were to 
 be seen moping about the rookery, smeared with 
 blood and guano. Often a hen would join in when 
 two cocks were righting, occasionally going first for 
 one and then the other, but I never to my know- 
 ledge saw a cock retaliate on a hen. 
 
 Once I saw two cocks fighting, and a hen taking 
 the part of one of the cocks, the pair of them gave 
 the other a fearful hammering, the hen using 
 her bill savagely as well as her flippers. Completely 
 knocked out and gasping for breath he got away at 
 last, only to meet another cock who fought him 
 and easily beat him. When this one had gone 
 a third came, and the poor victim with a courage 
 truly noble was squaring himself up with his 
 last spark of energy, when I interfered and drove 
 away his enemy. 
 
 The nests on most of the knolls soon became so 
 crowded that their occupants, by stretching out 
 their necks, could reach their neighbours without 
 
 45
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 getting up. As every hen appeared to hate her 
 neighbour they would peck-peck at one another 
 hour after hour, in the manner seen in my 
 photograph,* till their mouths and heads became 
 terribly sore. Occasionally they would desist, shake 
 their heads apparently from pain, then at it again. 
 In various places through the course of these 
 pages, reference is made to the " ecstatic " attitude 
 of the penguins. This antic is gone through by 
 both sexes and at various times, though much more 
 frequently during the actual breeding season. The 
 bird rears its body upward and stretching up its 
 neck in a perpendicular line, discharges a volley 
 of guttural sounds straight at the unresponding 
 heavens. At the same time the clonic movements 
 of its syrinx or " sound box " distinctly can be seen 
 going on in its throat. Why it does this I have 
 never been able to make out, but it appears to be 
 thrown into this ecstasy when it is pleased ; in fact, 
 the zoologist of the " Pourquoi Pas " expedition 
 termed it the " Chant de satisfaction." I suppose 
 it may be likened to the crowing of a cock or the 
 braying of an ass. When one bird of a pair starts 
 to perform in this way, the other usually starts at 
 once to pacify it. Very many times I saw this 
 
 * Fig. 12. 
 4G
 
 FIG. 27. COCKS FIGHTING FOR HENS 
 
 FlU. 28. COCKS FKiHTING FOR HENS 
 
 (Pd'/r 44)
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 scene enacted when nesting was in progress. The 
 two might be squatting by the nest when one would 
 arise to assume the "ecstatic" attitude and make 
 the gutteral sounds in its syrinx. Immediately 
 the other would get close up to it and make the 
 following noise in a soft soothing tone : 
 
 A -ah 
 
 Always and immediately this caused the musician 
 to subside and settle itself down again. 
 The King penguin at the Zoological Gardens, 
 whose sex is unknown, throws itself into the 
 ecstatic attitude and sings a sort of song when its 
 keeper strokes its neck. The blackfooted penguins 
 never do it, though they breed several times a year. 
 Figs. 26 and 32 show Adelies in ecstatic attitude. 
 
 To-day about a dozen skua gulls (Megakstris 
 Makormiki) appeared for the first time. They did 
 not start to nest, but sat on the sea-ice with a 
 group of penguins, in apparent amity. A few 
 occasionally flew about over the rookery. 
 
 On October 27 though the stream of arrivals 
 continued there were wide gaps in it. It appeared 
 
 47
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 to be thinning. For an hour in the forenoon it 
 stopped altogether, and at the end of this time a 
 storm of wind from the south struck us and con- 
 tinued for another hour with thick drift. Probably 
 clear of Cape Adare the wind had been blowing 
 before it reached us, and had stopped the birds' 
 progress across the ice. 
 
 During the storm the rookery was completely 
 silenced, most of the birds lying with their heads to 
 the wind. A good many skuas arrived that day. 
 Some chips of white, glistening quartz had been 
 thrown down by our hut door recently, and later I 
 found two of these chips in a nest about thirty 
 yards away, showing up brightly against the black 
 basalt of which all the pebbles on the rookery were 
 composed. 
 
 As a rule the penguins were careful to select 
 rounded stones for their nests, but these fragments 
 of quartz were jagged and uncomfortable, and most 
 unsuitable for nest building. Thus it was evidently 
 the brightness of the stones which attracted them. 
 Whilst I looked on, the owners of the pieces of 
 quartz were wrangling with their neighbours, and 
 a penguin in a nest behind shot out its beak and 
 stole one of the pieces, placing it in its own nest. 
 I had brought Campbell out to show him the pieces 
 48
 
 FlG. 29. COCKS FIGHTING FOR HENS 
 
 (Pa ye 44) 
 
 FIG. 30. PENGUIN ON XKST
 
 THE FASTING PERIOD 
 
 of quartz, and he witnessed the last incident 
 with me. 
 
 I may here mention an experiment I tried some 
 days later. I painted some pebbles a bright red 
 and had others covered with bright green cotton 
 material as I had no other coloured paint. Mixing 
 a handful of these coloured stones together I placed 
 them in a little heap amongst natural black ones 
 near a nest-covered knoll. Returning in a few 
 hours I found nearly all the red stones and one or 
 two of the green ones gone, and later found them 
 in nests. Later still, all the red ones had dis- 
 appeared, and last of all the green ones. I traced 
 nearly all these to nests, and found a few days later 
 that, like the pieces of white quartz, they were 
 being stolen from nest to nest and thus slowly 
 being distributed in different directions. At other 
 times I saw pieces of tin, pieces of glass, half a 
 stick of chocolate, and the head of a bright metal 
 teaspoon in different nests near our hut, the articles 
 evidently having been taken from our scrap-heap. 
 Thus it is evident that penguins like bright colours 
 and prefer red to green, as instanced by the selec- 
 tion of the coloured pebbles. I am sorry that I 
 did not carry these colour tests further. 
 
 During October 29 the stream of arrivals was 
 
 D 49
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 undiminished, but the next day it slackened con- 
 siderably, and during the next two days stopped 
 altogether, all the rising ground of the rookery now 
 being literally crammed full with nests, several 
 thousands of them being scattered up the slopes of 
 Cape Adare to a height of a thousand feet. 
 
 50
 
 FIG. 31. SHOWING THE POSITION OF THE Two EGGS 
 
 
 FIG. 32. AN ADEME IN "ECSTATIC" ATTITUDE 
 
 (/'age 47)
 
 PART II 
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE 
 ADELIE PENGUIN 
 
 Laying and incubation of the eggs : The Adelies' 
 habits in the water : Their games : Care of the young : 
 The later development of their social system. 
 
 ON November 3 several eggs were found, and on 
 the 4th these were beginning to be plentiful in 
 places, though many of the colonies had not yet 
 started to lay. 
 
 Let me here call attention to the fact that up to 
 now not a single bird out of all those thousands 
 had left the rookery once it had entered it. Con- 
 sequently not a single bird had taken food of any 
 description during all the most strenuous part of 
 the breeding season, and as they did not start to 
 feed till November 8 thousands had to my know- 
 ledge fasted for no fewer than twenty-seven days. 
 Now of all the days of the year these twenty-seven 
 are certainly the most trying during the life of the 
 Adelie. 
 
 51
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 With the exception, in some cases, of a few 
 hours immediately after arrival (and I believe the 
 later arrivals could not afford themselves even this 
 short respite) constant vigilance had been main- 
 tained ; battle after battle had been fought ; some 
 had been nearly killed in savage encounters, re- 
 covered, fought again and again with varying 
 fortune. They had mated at last, built their nests, 
 procreated their species, and, in short, met the 
 severest trials that Nature can inflict upon mind 
 and body, and at the end of it, though in many 
 cases blood-stained and in all caked and bedraggled 
 with mire, they were as active and as brave as ever. 
 
 When one egg had been laid the hen still sat on 
 the nest. The egg had to be continually warmed, 
 and as the temperature was well below freezing- 
 point, exposure would mean the death of the 
 embryo. 
 
 In order to determine the period between the 
 laying of the two eggs, I numbered seven nests 
 with wooden pegs, writing on the pegs the date on 
 which each egg was laid. The result obtained is 
 shown on page 53. 
 
 The average interval in the four cases where two 
 eggs were laid being 3'5 days. 
 
 No. 7 nest was that of the hen which I men- 
 52
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 tioned as having waited for so long for a mate, 
 and the lateness of the date on which the first 
 
 
 Date of 
 appearance 
 of first egg 
 
 Date of 
 appearance 
 of second egg 
 
 Interval 
 
 No. 1 nest . 
 
 Nov. 14 
 
 
 
 Only 1 laid 
 
 No. 2 nest 
 
 Nov. 13 
 
 Nov. 16 
 
 3 days 
 
 No. 3 nest . 
 
 Nov. 14 
 
 Nov. 1 7 
 
 3 days 
 
 No. 4 nest . 
 
 
 
 
 No. 5 nest . 
 
 Nov. 1 2 
 
 Nov. 16 
 
 4 days 
 
 No. 6 nest . 
 
 Nov. 8 
 
 Nov. 12 
 
 4 days 
 
 No. 7 nest . 
 
 Nov. 24 
 
 
 
 Only 1 laid 
 
 egg appeared may have resulted in there being 
 no other. 
 
 The only notes I have on the incubation period 
 are that the first chick appeared in No. 5 nest on 
 December 19 (incubation period thirty-seven days) 
 and in No. 7 nest on December 28 (incubation 
 period thirty-four days). 
 
 53
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 The skuas had increased considerably in numbers 
 by November 4, and frequently came to the scrap- 
 heap outside our hut. Here were many frozen 
 carcasses of penguins which we had thrown there 
 after the breasts had been removed for food during 
 the past winter. The skuas picked the bones quite 
 clean of flesh, so that the skeletons lay white under 
 the skins, and it was remarkable to what distances 
 they sometimes carried the carcasses, which weighed 
 considerably more than the skuas themselves. I 
 found some of these bodies over five hundred yards 
 away. 
 
 A perpetual feud was carried on between the 
 penguins and the skuas. The latter birds come to 
 the south in the summer, and make their nests 
 close to, and in some cases actually among, those of 
 the penguins, and during the breeding time live 
 almost entirely on the eggs, and later, on the chicks. 
 They never attack the adult penguins, who run at 
 them and drive them away when they light within 
 reach, but as the skuas can take to the wing and 
 the penguins cannot, no pursuit is possible. 
 
 The skuas fly about over the rookery, keeping only 
 a few yards from the ground, and should one of them 
 see a nest vacated and the eggs exposed, if only for 
 a few seconds, it swoops at this, and with scarcely 
 54
 
 KIG. 34. FLOODED 
 
 FIG. 35. A XEKT WITH STONES OF MIXED SIZES
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 a pause in its flight, transfixes an egg upon its beak 
 and carries it to an open space on the ground, there 
 to devour the contents. Here then was another 
 need for constant vigilance, and so daring did the 
 skuas become, that often when a penguin sat on 
 a nest carelessly, so as to leave one of the eggs 
 protruding from under it, a lightning dash from a 
 skua would result in the egg being borne trium- 
 phantly away. 
 
 The bitterness of the penguins' hatred of the skuas 
 was well shown in the neighbourhood of our scrap- 
 heap. None of the food thrown out on to this heap 
 was of the least use to the penguins, but we noticed 
 after a time that almost always there were one or 
 more penguins there, keeping guard against the 
 skuas, and doing their utmost to prevent them from 
 getting the food, and never allowing them to light 
 on the heap for more than a few seconds at a time. 
 In fact, a constant feature of this heap was the 
 sentry penguin, darting hither and thither, aiming 
 savage pecks at the skuas, which would then rise a 
 yard or two into the air out of reach, the penguin 
 squalling in its anger at being unable to follow its 
 enemy. At this juncture the penguin would imitate 
 the flying motion with its flappers, seeming instinc- 
 tively to attempt to mount into the air, as its 
 
 55
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 remote ancestors doubtlessly did, before their wings 
 had adapted themselves solely to swimming. 
 
 Close to the scrap-heap there was a large knoll 
 crowded with penguins' nests, and it was this knoll 
 that provided the sentries. Very rarely did one of 
 these leave the heap until another came to relieve 
 it as long as there were skuas about, but when the 
 skuas went the penguins left it too. When the 
 skuas returned, however, and without the lapse of 
 a few seconds, a penguin would be seen to detach it- 
 self from the knoll and run to guard the heap. That 
 some primitive understanding on this matter existed 
 among the penguins seems to me probable, because 
 whilst there were generally one or two guarding 
 the heap, there was never a crowd, the rest of the 
 knoll seeming quite satisfied as long as one of 
 their number remained on guard. 
 
 In describing the Cape Adare rookery I men- 
 tioned the fact that the pebbles entering into the 
 formation of the beach are basaltic, and therefore of 
 a dead black shade. The result of this is that as 
 the sun's altitude increases, heat is absorbed readily 
 by the black rock, through that clear atmosphere, 
 and the snow upon it rapidly melts. 
 
 For a long time the penguins at their nests had 
 satisfied their thirst by eating the snow near them, 
 50
 
 
 
 
 FIG. 36. "HOUR AFTER HOUR, DURING THE WHOLE DAY, 
 THEY FOUGHT AGAIN AND AGAIN" 
 
 (f'tir/e G8>
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 but as this disappeared, they suffered greatly, as 
 was made evident by the way they lay with beaks 
 open and tongues exposed between them. (Fig. 
 30.) As time went on the cocks started to make 
 short journeys to the drifts which still remained in 
 order to quench their thirst, but the hens stuck 
 manfully, or rather " henfully " to their posts, 
 though some of them seemed much distressed. 
 Later, those cocks which had nested in the centre 
 of the rookery had quite long journeys to make in 
 order to find drifts, a very popular resort being that 
 which had formed in the lee of our hut, and all day 
 streams of them came here to gobble snow. Once 
 a cock was seen to take a lump of snow in his beak 
 and carry it to his mate on the nest, who ate it. 
 
 Mr. Priestley tells me that when he was at Cape 
 Royds in 1908 he saw cocks taking snow to hens 
 on their nests. This procedure would seem to be 
 different to the parental instinct which governs the 
 feeding of the young, and it seemed to show that 
 the cock realized that the hen must be thirsty and 
 in need of the snow, and kept this fact in mind 
 when he was away from her. Another point to 
 note is that the occurrence was a very rare and, in 
 fact, exceptional one. 
 
 When conditions arose which were new to their 
 
 57
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 experience the penguins seemed utterly unable to 
 grasp them. 
 
 As an example of this, we had rigged a guide 
 rope from our hut to the meteorological screen, 
 about fifty yards away, to guide us during blizzards. 
 This rope, which was supported by poles driven 
 into the ground, sagged in one place till it nearly 
 touched the ground. At frequent intervals, pen- 
 guins on their w r ay past the hut were brought to a 
 standstill by running their breasts into this sagged 
 rope, and each bird as it was caught invariably 
 went through the same ridiculous procedure. First 
 it would push hard against the rope, then finding 
 this of no avail, back a few steps, walk up to it 
 again and have another push, repeating the process 
 several times. After this, instead of going a few 
 feet further along where it could easily walk under 
 the rope, in ninety per cent, of cases it would turn, 
 and by a wide detour walk right round the hut the 
 other way, evidently convinced that some unknown 
 obstacle completely barred its passage on that side. 
 This spectacle was a continual source of amuse- 
 ment to us as it went on all day and every day for 
 some time. 
 
 As penguins' eggs are very good to eat and a 
 great luxury, as well as being beneficial to men 
 58
 
 FIG. 37. A XEST ON A KOCK 
 
 71) 
 
 
 '-,-. 
 
 I 
 
 Fu;. 38. "ONE AFTER ANOTHER, THE REST OF THE PARTY 
 
 FOLLOWED HIM " 
 
 (Page 75)
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 living under Antarctic conditions, we collected a 
 large number, which we stowed away to freeze. 
 To collect these eggs we used to set off, carrying 
 a bucket, and walk through the knolls. As we 
 picked our way, carefully placing our feet in the 
 narrow spaces between the nests, we were savagely 
 pecked about the legs, as in most positions at 
 least, these birds could reach us without even leaving 
 the nest, whilst very often the mates standing near 
 them would sail in at us, raining in blows with 
 their flippers with the rapidity of a maxim gun. 
 
 To search for eggs it was necessary to lift up the 
 occupant of each nest and look beneath her. If 
 she were tackled from front or flank this was a 
 painful and difficult business, as she drove at the 
 intruder's hands with powerful strokes of her sharp 
 beak, but we found that the best way to set about 
 the matter was to dangle a fur mit in front of 
 her with one hand, and when she seized this 
 quickly slip the other behind her, lifting her nether 
 regions from the nest, and at the same time push- 
 ing her gently forward. Immediately she would 
 drop the fur mit, and sticking her beak into the 
 ground push herself backward with a determined 
 effort to stay on the nest. So long as the pressure 
 from behind was kept up she would keep her beak 
 
 59
 
 AD^LIE PENGUINS 
 
 firmly fixed in the ground, and could be robbed at 
 will. 
 
 The egg abstracted, she was then left in peace, 
 on which she would rise to her feet, look under her 
 for the egg and, finding that it was gone, ruffle her 
 feathers, and, trembling with indignation, look 
 round for the robber, seemingly quite unable to 
 realize that we were the guilty ones. This is 
 typical of the Adelie's attitude towards us. We 
 are beyond their comprehension, and fear of us, 
 anger at us, curiosity over us, although frequently 
 shown, are displayed only for a fleeting moment. 
 In a few minutes she might forget about the 
 incident altogether and quietly resume her position 
 on the empty nest, but very often she would 
 violently attack any other bird who might happen 
 to be standing near, and thus as we filled our 
 buckets we left a line of altercation in our wake. 
 This, however, was not long lived, and affairs soon 
 settled down to their normal state, and I believe 
 that in about one minute the affair was completely 
 forgotten. The penguin, indeed, is in its nature 
 the embodiment of all that man should be when he 
 explores the Antarctic regions, ever acting on the 
 principle that it is of no use to worry over spilt 
 milk. 
 60
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 The comparative size of the penguin's egg is 
 shown in some of my photographs. Ninety-six 
 eggs averaged 4*56 ounces apiece. They vary in 
 size from about 6 '45 c.m. to 7 "2 c.m. in length, and 
 from 5-0 c.m. to 5' 5 c.m. in breadth, on an average. 
 Both ends are nearly equally rounded, and of a white 
 chalky texture without, and green within. This 
 green colour is plainly shown by transmitted light. 
 
 When the two have been laid the sitting bird 
 places them one in front of the other. The rear- 
 most egg is tucked up on the outspread feet, the 
 foremost lies on the ground, and is covered by the 
 belly of the bird as it lies forward upon it. (Fig. 
 31.) By many of the birds a strong inclination to 
 burrow was displayed, and they seemed very fond 
 of delving in the soft shingle ledges that were to be 
 found on some parts of the beach. They did this 
 ostensibly to get small stones for their nests, but 
 certainly burrowed deeper than they need have 
 done, and occasionally squatted for some time in 
 little caves that they made in this way. I noticed 
 the same thing in the drifts when they went to eat 
 snow, and thought at times that they were going 
 to make underground nests, but they never did so, 
 though some of the little shingle caves would have 
 made ideal nesting sites. 
 
 61
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 By November 7, though many nests were still 
 without eggs, a large number now contained two, 
 and their owners started, turn and turn about, to 
 go to the open water leads about a third of a mile 
 distant to feed, and as a result of this a change 
 began gradually to come over the face of the 
 rookery. Hitherto the whole ground in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the nests had been stained a bright 
 green. This was due to the fasting birds continually 
 dropping their watery, bile-stained excreta upon it. 
 (The gall of penguins is bright green.) These 
 excreta practically contained no solid matter except- 
 ing epithelial cells and salts. 
 
 The nests themselves are never fouled, the 
 excreta being squirted clear of them for a distance 
 of a foot or more, so that each nest has the appear- 
 ance of a flower with bright green petals radiating 
 from its centre. Some of the photographs show 
 this well, especially Fig. 30. Even when the 
 chicks have come and are being sat upon by the 
 parents, this still holds good, because they lie with 
 their heads under the old bird's belly and their 
 hindquarters just presenting themselves, so that 
 they may add their little decorative offerings, petal 
 by petal ! Now that the birds were going to feed, 
 the watery-green stains upon the ground gave 
 62
 
 :
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 place to the characteristic bright brick-red guano, 
 resulting from their feeding on the shrimp-like 
 euphausia in the sea ; and the colour of the whole 
 rookery was changed in a few days, though this 
 was first noticeable, of course, in the region of 
 those knolls which had been occupied first, and 
 which were now settled down to the peaceable and 
 regular family life which was to last until the chicks 
 had grown. 
 
 As this family life became established, law and 
 order reigned to some extent, and there was a 
 distinct tendency to preserve it, noticeably on those 
 knolls which had so settled down, and I think the 
 following most surprising incident bears evidence 
 of what I have said. I quote word for word from 
 my notes on November 24, 1911 : 
 
 " This afternoon I saw two cocks (probably) 
 engaged in a very fierce fight, which lasted a good 
 three minutes. They were fighting with flippers 
 and bills, one of them being particularly clever with 
 the latter, frequently seizing and holding his oppo- 
 nent just behind the right eye whilst he battered 
 him with his flippers. 
 
 " After a couple of minutes, during which each 
 had the other down on the ground several times, 
 three or four other penguins ran up and apparently 
 
 63
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 tried to stop the fight. This is the only construc- 
 tion I can put on their behaviour, as time after time 
 they kept running in when the two combatants 
 clinched, pushing their breasts in between them, 
 but making no attempt to fight themselves, whilst 
 their more collected appearance and smooth feathers 
 were in marked contrast to the angry attitudes of 
 the combatants. 
 
 " The fight, which had started on the outskirts 
 of a knoll crowded with nests, soon edged away to 
 the space outside, and it was here that I (and 
 Campbell, who was with me) saw the other pen- 
 guins try to stop it. The last minute was a very 
 fierce and vindictive ' mill,' both fighting with all 
 their might, and ended in one of them trying to 
 toboggan away from his opponent ; but he was too 
 exhausted to get any pace on, so that just as he 
 got into the crowd again he was caught, and both 
 fought for a few seconds more, when the apparent 
 victor suddenly stopped and ran away. The other 
 picked himself up and made his way rapidly among 
 the nests, evidently searching for one in particular. 
 
 "Following him, I saw him run up to a nest 
 near the place where the fight had begun. There 
 was a solitary penguin waiting by this nest, which 
 was evidently new and not yet completed, and 
 64
 
 ^
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 without eggs. The cock I had followed, ruffled 
 and battered with battle, ran up to the waiting bird, 
 and the usual side-to-side chatter in the ecstatic 
 attitude began and continued for half a minute, after 
 which each became calmer, and I left them appar- 
 ently reconciled and arranging stones in the nest. 
 
 " This incident was after the usual nature of a 
 dispute between two mates for a hen, but the pacific 
 interference of the other birds was quite new to 
 my experience. That it was pacific I am quite 
 convinced, and Campbell agreed with me that there 
 was no doubt of it. All the nests round about 
 had eggs under incubation, and the pair in question 
 must have been newcomers." 
 
 On returning home I was glad to find that Mr. 
 Bernacchi, who landed at Cape Adare with the 
 " Southern Cross " expedition, says in his account 
 (p. 131) that he also saw penguins interfering and 
 trying to stop others from fighting. 
 
 Owing to our having several snowfalls without 
 wind, and to the action of the sun on the black 
 rock, which I have mentioned already, the rookery 
 became a mass of slush in many places, and in some 
 of the lower-lying parts actually flooded. In some 
 of these low-lying situations penguins had unwarily 
 made their nests, and there was one particular little 
 
 E 65
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 colony near our hut which was threatened with total 
 extinction from the accumulation of thaw water. 
 As this trickled down from the higher ground 
 around them, the occupants of the flooded ground 
 exerted all their energies to avert this calamity, and 
 from each nest one of its tenants could be seen 
 making journey after journey for pebbles, which it 
 brought to the one sitting on the nest, who placed 
 stone after stone in position, so that as the water 
 rose the little castle grew higher and higher and 
 kept the eggs dry. One nest in particular I noticed 
 which was as yet a foot or so clear of the water and 
 on dry ground ; but whilst the hen sat on this, 
 the cock was working most energetically in anticipa- 
 tion of what was going to happen, and for hours 
 journeyed to and from the nest, each time wading 
 across the little lake to the other side, where he was 
 getting the stones. 
 
 This scene, which I photographed, is depicted 
 on Fig. 33. In the right-hand corner of the 
 picture the cock is seen in the act of delivering 
 another stone to the hen who is waiting to receive 
 it, whilst some of the nests are actually surrounded 
 by water. Fig. 34 shows another nest, rising like 
 a little island from a thaw pool, the eggs being 
 only just above water. 
 66
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 Some time ago I mentioned that there were 
 penguins of weak individuality who allowed others 
 to rob them of their stones, and this was in some 
 cases very noticeable on the flooded ground, and 
 there were one or two nests here which had been 
 almost entirely removed by thieving neighbours. 
 
 To quote again from my notes. 
 
 "November 10. This evening I saw a hen 
 penguin trying to sit on a nest with two eggs. 
 The nest had no stones, and was scooped deeply 
 in the ground in a slush of melting snow, so that 
 the eggs were nearly covered with water. The 
 poor hen stood in the water and kept trying to 
 squat down on the eggs, but each time she did so, 
 sat in the water and had to get up again. She 
 was shivering with cold and all bedraggled. 
 
 " I took the two eggs out of the nest, and 
 Browning and I collected a heap of stones (partly 
 from her richer neighbours !) and built the nest 
 well up above the water. Then I replaced the 
 eggs, and the hen at once gladly sat on them, 
 put them in position, and was busily engaged in 
 arranging the new stones round her when we left." 
 
 One day, when the season was well advanced, I 
 saw a violent altercation taking place between two 
 penguins, one of which was in possession of a nest 
 
 67
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 in a somewhat isolated position. The other 
 evidently was doing his utmost to capture the 
 nest, as whenever he got the other off, he stood 
 on it. There were scarcely any stones in the nest, 
 which contained one egg. I think from the way 
 they fought that both were cocks. 
 
 For two reasons I make special mention of the 
 occurrence, first, because of all the fights I ever 
 saw this was the longest and most relentless, and, 
 secondly, because the nest being in such an isolated 
 position it seemed curious that there could be any 
 mistake about its ownership. Such, however, 
 seemed to be the case, and hour after hour, during 
 the whole day, they fought again and again. 
 
 After each bout of a few minutes both birds 
 became so exhausted that they sank panting to 
 the ground, evidently suffering from thirst and at 
 the limit of their endurance. Sometimes one 
 captured the nest, sometimes the other, but after 
 several hours of this, one of them began to show 
 signs of outlasting the other, and kept possession. 
 For long after this, however, the other returned 
 repeatedly to the attack. 
 
 I fetched my camera and photographed the birds 
 as they fought (Fig. 36). As time went on, the 
 weaker bird took longer and longer intervals to 
 68
 
 ft 
 
 s v<v< 
 
 \ -Ww
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 recover between his attacks, lying on his breast, 
 with his head on the snow and eyes half closed, so 
 that I thought he was going to die. Each time 
 he got to his feet and staggered at his enemy, the 
 latter rose from the nest and met him, only to 
 drive him back again. When I saw them at about 
 10 P.M. (it was perpetual daylight now) both were 
 lying down, the victor on the nest, the vanquished 
 about five yards off. The next day one bird re- 
 mained on the nest and the other had gone, and I 
 do not know what happened to him. 
 
 In the course of a walk through the rookery 
 considerable diversity in the choice of nesting sites 
 was to be noticed. The general tendency is for 
 the penguins to build their nests close together 
 (within a foot or two of one another) on the tops 
 of the rounded knolls, the lower levels being left 
 untenanted. 
 
 The most thickly populated districts were to be 
 found on the screes immediately below the cliffs. 
 These screes having been formed in the first in- 
 stance by the falling of fragments due to weather- 
 ing of the cliff, their substance is still added to, 
 little by little, as time goes on, and therefore many 
 are killed annually by falling rocks, as is mentioned 
 elsewhere, but weighing against this danger is the 
 
 69
 
 ADEL1E PENGUINS 
 
 advantage the cliff offers as a shelter from the 
 E.S.E. gales. The same applies to the nesting 
 sites up the cliff, but I am convinced that only the 
 love of climbing can account for the extraordinary 
 positions chosen by some of the birds. Some of 
 the nests are so difficult of access that their 
 occupants, on their way to them, may be seen 
 sliding backwards down the little glazed snow- 
 slopes several times before they accomplish the 
 ascent, whilst in other places they have to jump 
 from one foothold to another along the almost 
 perpendicular cliff. 
 
 Even up these heights a tendency to grouping is 
 seen, though there are a fair number of individuals 
 who, seeming to seek seclusion, make their nests 
 at some distance from the others. I noticed this 
 in some places along the shore, too, where solitary 
 nests were to be seen on isolated patches of 
 shingle. 
 
 When I visited Cape Royds in 1911 I found 
 a couple nesting alone in a cove known as " Black 
 Sand Beach," some half mile from the rookery 
 there. Such isolation as this, however, is very 
 unusual, and was quite a departure from the 
 regular custom of the species. 
 
 In some places at Cape Adare, large rocks some 
 70
 
 FIG. 44. "WHEN THKY SUCCEEDED IN PUSHING ONE OF 
 
 THEIR NUMBER OVER, ALL WOULD CUANE THEIR 
 
 NECKS OVER THE EDGE" 
 
 (Page 83)
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 two or three feet in height stood about the rookery. 
 Whenever the summit of one of these was acces- 
 sible, a pair built their nest upon it,* though how 
 they managed to keep up there during the gales 
 was a matter for wonder, but the proud possessors 
 of the castle evidently had a delight in their lofty 
 position. One nest had been made on an old 
 packing-case left by the expedition which wintered 
 there in 189 4, and several nested among the weather- 
 ing bones of the seals that had died on the beach. 
 
 Although the greatest care had been taken 
 by nearly all in the choice of sites that would be on 
 dry ground when the thaw came later in the 
 season, yet a few hens had gone to the other 
 extreme, and with greatest stupidity chosen their 
 site right down in the hollows where they were 
 absolutely certain to be flooded later on. These 
 stupid ones are thus prevented from rearing their 
 young, and so selection keeps the wiser for future 
 generations, and eliminates the less intelligent from 
 the community, though perhaps some of these learn 
 by experience, and next year use more discrimina- 
 tion in choosing their nesting place. 
 
 Some of the colonies in fact, most of them 
 were orderly and well arranged, and later in the 
 
 * Fig. 37. 
 
 71
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 season distinctly peaceful. Others, however, pre- 
 sented a less respectable appearance. There was 
 one in particular, close to our hut, which could 
 only be described as a slum of the meanest de- 
 scription. All through the season there was more 
 fighting in this colony than anywhere else, and 
 so remarkable was this, that we christened the 
 locality " Casey's Court " and the name stuck 
 for the rest of the year. 
 
 The nests had fewer stones than elsewhere, 
 and were more untidily made, and when the eggs 
 came, owing to the constant fighting that went on, 
 most of them got spilt from the nests or broken, 
 and very few chicks were hatched in consequence, 
 the mortality among them also being so great that 
 of the whole colony of some hundred nests, I 
 do not think more than forty or fifty chicks at 
 most reached maturity. The explanation of this 
 state of things lay, I believe, in the fact that 
 our hut and its curtilage deflected the stream 
 of penguins on their way past the spot from the 
 water to the back of the rookery, so that a constant 
 stream of them passed through " Casey's Court," 
 upsetting the tempers of the inhabitants so that 
 they became disorderly. In addition to this, there 
 was a fairly big thaw pool and much miry ground 
 72
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 near by, so that the inhabitants were generally 
 covered with mud and very disreputable to look at. 
 
 During the fasting season, as none of the penguins 
 had entered the water, they all became very dirty 
 and disreputable in appearance, as well may be 
 imagined considering the life they led, but now 
 that they went regularly to swim, they immediately 
 got back their sleek and spotless state. 
 
 From the ice-foot to the open water, the half 
 mile or so of sea-ice presented a lively scene as 
 the thousands of birds passed to and fro over 
 it, outward bound parties of dirty birds from the 
 rookery passing the spruce bathers, homeward 
 bound after their banquet and frolic in the sea. So 
 interesting and instructive was it to watch the 
 bathing parties, that we spent whole days in this 
 way. 
 
 As I have said before, the couples took turn and 
 turn about on the nest, one remaining to guard and 
 incubate while the other went off to the water. 
 
 On leaving their nests, the birds made their way 
 down the ice-foot on to the sea-ice. Here they 
 would generally wait about and join up with others 
 until enough had gathered together to make up 
 a decent little party, which would then set off 
 gaily for the water. They were now in the greatest 
 
 73
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 possible spirits, chattering loudly and frolicking 
 with one another, and playfully chasing each other 
 about, occasionally indulging in a little friendly 
 sparring with their flippers. 
 
 Arrived at length at the water's edge, almost 
 always the same procedure was gone through. The 
 object of every bird in the party seemed to be 
 to get one of the others to enter the water first. 
 They would crowd up to the very edge of the ice, 
 dodging about and trying to push one another 
 in. Sometimes those behind nearly would succeed 
 in pushing the front rank in, who then would 
 just recover themselves in time, and rushing round 
 to the rear, endeavour to turn the tables on the 
 others. Occasionally one actually would get pushed 
 in, only to turn quickly under water and bound out 
 again on to the ice like a cork shot out of a bottle. 
 Then for some time they would chase one another 
 about, seemingly bent on having a good game, each 
 bird intent on finding any excuse from being 
 the first in. Sometimes this would last a few 
 minutes, sometimes for the better part of an hour, 
 until suddenly the whole band would change its 
 tactics, and one of the number start to run at 
 full tilt along the edge of the ice, the rest following 
 closely on his heels, until at last he would take 
 74
 
 & f 
 
 **
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 a clean header into the water. One after another 
 the rest of the party followed him (Fig. 38), 
 all taking off exactly from the spot where he 
 had entered, and following one another so quickly 
 as to have the appearance of a lot of shot poured 
 out of a bottle into the water. The accompanying 
 photograph presents this last scene. 
 
 A dead silence would ensue till a few seconds 
 later, when they would all come to the surface 
 some twenty or thirty yards out, and start rolling 
 about and splashing in the water, cleaning them- 
 selves and making sounds exactly like a lot of boys 
 calling out and chaffing one another. 
 
 So extraordinary was this whole scene, that on 
 first witnessing it we were overcome with astonish- 
 ment, and it seemed to us almost impossible that 
 the little creatures, whose antics we were watching, 
 were actually birds and not human beings. Seem- 
 ingly reluctant as they had been to enter the water, 
 when once there they evinced every sign of enjoy- 
 ment, and would stay in for hours at a time. 
 
 As may be imagined, the penguins spent a great 
 deal of time on their way to and from the water, 
 especially during the earlier period before the sea- 
 ice had broken away from the ice-foot, as they had 
 so far to walk before arriving at the open leads. 
 
 75
 
 ADfiLIE PENGUINS 
 
 As a band of spotless bathers returning to the 
 rookery, their white breasts and black backs 
 glistening with a fine metallic lustre in the sun- 
 light, met a dirty and bedraggled party on its way 
 out from the nesting ground, frequently both 
 would stop, and the clean and dirty mingle 
 together and chatter with one another for some 
 minutes. If they were not speaking words in 
 some language of their own, their whole appear- 
 ance belied them, and as they stood, some in pairs, 
 some in groups of three or more, chattering amic- 
 ably together, it became evident that they were 
 sociable animals, glad to meet one another, and, 
 like many men, pleased with the excuse to forget 
 for a while their duties at home, where their mates 
 were waiting to be relieved for their own spell off 
 the nests. 
 
 After a variable period of this intercourse, the 
 two parties would separate and continue on their 
 respective ways, a clean stream issuing from the 
 crowd in the direction of the rookery, a dirty one 
 heading off towards the open water, but here it 
 was seen that a few who had bathed and fed, 
 and were already perhaps half-way home, had been 
 persuaded to turn and accompany the others, and 
 so back they would go again over the way they 
 76
 
 had come, to spend a few more hours in skylarking 
 and splashing about in the sea. 
 
 In speaking of these games of the penguins, I 
 wish to lay emphasis on the fact that these hours 
 of relaxation play a large part in their lives during 
 the advanced part of the breeding period. They 
 would spend hours in playing at a sort of " touch 
 last " on the sea-ice near the water's edge. They 
 never played on the ground of the rookery itself, 
 but only on the sea-ice and the ice-foot and in the 
 water, and I may here mention another favourite 
 pastime of theirs. I have said that the tide 
 flowed past the rookery at the rate of some five or 
 six knots. Small ice-floes are continually drifting 
 past in the water, and as one of these arrived at 
 the top of the ice-foot, it would be boarded by a 
 crowd of penguins, sometimes until it could hold 
 no more. (Fig. 39.) This "excursion boat," as 
 we used to call it, would float its many occupants 
 down the whole length of the ice-foot, and if 
 it passed close to the edge, those that rode on 
 the floes would shout at the knots of penguins 
 gathered along the ice-foot (Fig. 40) who would 
 shout at them in reply, so that a gay bantering 
 seemed to accompany their passage past the 
 rookery. 
 
 77
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 Arrived at the farther end, some half a mile 
 lower down, those on the " excursion boat " had 
 perforce to leave it, all plunging into the tide and 
 swimming against this until they came to the top 
 again, then boarded a fresh floe for another ride 
 down. All day these floes, often crowded to their 
 utmost capacity, would float past the rookery. 
 Often a knot of hesitating penguins on the ice- 
 foot, on being hailed by a babel of voices from a 
 floe, would suddenly make the plunge, and all 
 swim off to join their friends for the rest of the 
 journey, and I have seen a floe so crowded that as 
 a fresh party boarded it on one side, many were 
 pushed off the other side into the water by the 
 crush. 
 
 Once, as we stood watching the penguins bath- 
 ing, one of them popped out of the water on to the 
 ice with a large pebble in its mouth, which it had 
 evidently fetched from the bottom. This surprised 
 me, as the depth of the sea here was some ten 
 fathoms at least. The bird simply dropped the 
 stone on the ice and then dived in again, so that 
 evidently he had gone to all the trouble of diving 
 for the stone simply for the pleasure of doing it. 
 Mr. J. H. Gurney, in his book on the gannet, says 
 they (gannets) are said to have got themselves 
 78
 
 FIG. 48. DIVING FLAT 
 
 FIG. in. ADKLIGS "PORPOISING' 
 
 80)
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 entangled in fishing-nets at a depth of 180 ft. and 
 that their descent to a depth of 90 ft. is quite 
 authentic, so that perhaps the depth of this pen- 
 guin's dive was not an unusual one. 
 
 The tide at the open water leads where they 
 bathed ran a good six knots, but the Adelies swam 
 quite easily against this without leaving the surface. 
 
 In the water, as on the land, they have two means 
 of progression. The first is by swimming as a duck 
 swims, excepting that they lie much lower in the 
 water than a duck does, the top of the back being 
 submerged, so that the neck sticks up out of the 
 water. As their feet are very slightly webbed, they 
 have not the advantages that a duck or gull has 
 when swimming in this way, but supplement their 
 foot-work by short quick strokes of their flippers. 
 This they are easily able to do, owing to the depth 
 to which the breast sinks in the water. 
 
 The second method is by "porpoising." 
 
 This consists in swimming under water, using 
 the wings or " flippers " for propulsion, the action of 
 these limbs being practically the same as they would 
 be in flying. As their wings are beautifully shaped 
 for swimming, and their pectoral muscles extraor- 
 dinarily powerful, they attain great speed, besides 
 which they are as nimble as fish, being able com- 
 
 79
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 pletely to double in their tracks in the flash of a 
 moment. In porpoising, after travelling thirty feet 
 or so under water, they rise from it, shooting clean 
 out with an impetus that carries them a couple of 
 yards in the air, then with an arch of the back they 
 are head first into the water again, swimming a few 
 more strokes, then out again, and so on. 
 
 I show a photograph of them doing this (Fig. 
 49). 
 
 Perhaps the most surprising feat of which the 
 Adelie is capable is seen when it leaps from the 
 water on to the ice. We saw this best later in the 
 year when the sea-ice had broken away from the ice- 
 foot, so that open water washed against the ice cliff 
 bounding the land. This little cliff rose sheer from 
 the water at first, but later, by the action of the 
 waves, was under-cut for some six feet or more in 
 places, so that the ledge of ice at the top hung for- 
 wards over the water. The height of most of this 
 upper ledge varied from three to six feet. 
 
 Whilst in the water the penguins usually hunted 
 and played in parties, just as they had entered it, 
 though a fair number of solitary individuals were 
 also to be seen. When a party had satisfied their 
 appetites and their desire for play, they would swim 
 to a distance of some thirty to forty yards from the 
 80

 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 ice-foot, when they might be seen all to stretch 
 their necks up and take a good look at the proposed 
 landing-place. Having done this, every bird would 
 suddenly disappear beneath the surface, not a 
 ripple showing which direction they had taken, till 
 suddenly, sometimes in a bunch, sometimes in a 
 stream, one after the other they would all shoot 
 out of the water, clean up on to the top of the ice- 
 foot. (Figs. 41 and 42.) Several times I measured 
 the distance from the surface of the water to the 
 ledge on which they landed, and the highest leap 
 I recorded was exactly five feet. The " take off" 
 was about four feet out from the edge, the whole 
 of the necessary impetus being gained as the bird 
 approached beneath the water. 
 
 The most important thing to note about this 
 jumping from the water was the accuracy with 
 which they invariably rose at precisely the right 
 moment, the exact distance being judged during 
 their momentary survey of a spot from a distance, 
 before they dived beneath the water, and carried in 
 their minds as they approached the ice. I am sure 
 that this impression was all they had to guide them, 
 as with a ripple on the water, and at the pace they 
 were going, they could not possibly have seen their 
 landing-place at all clearly as they approached it, 
 
 F 81
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 besides which, in many cases, the ledge of ice on 
 which they landed projected many feet forwards 
 from the surface, yet I never saw them misjudge 
 their distance so as to come up under the over- 
 hanging ledge. 
 
 During their approach they swam at an even 
 distance of about three or four feet beneath the 
 surface, projecting themselves upwards by a sudden 
 upward bend of the body, at the same time using 
 their tail as a helm, in the manner well shown in 
 one of my photographs, in which one of the 
 birds is seen in the air at the moment it left the 
 water, the tail being bent sharply up towards the 
 back. 
 
 Their quickness of perception is shown very well 
 as they land on the ice. If the surface is composed 
 of snow, and so affords them a good foothold, they 
 throw their legs well forward and land on their 
 feet, as shown in Figs. 41 and 42, but should they 
 find themselves landing on a slippery ice-surface, 
 they throw themselves forward, landing on their 
 breasts in the tobogganing position as shown in 
 Fig. 43. 
 
 The Adelies dive very beautifully. We did not 
 see this at first, before the sea-ice had gone out, 
 because to enter the water they had only to drop 
 82
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 a few inches, but later, when entering from the ice 
 terraces, we constantly saw them making the most 
 graceful dives. 
 
 At the place where they most often went in, a 
 long terrace of ice about six feet in height ran for 
 some hundreds of yards along the edge of the water, 
 and here, just as on the sea-ice, crowds would stand 
 near the brink. When they had succeeded in 
 pushing one of their number over, all would crane 
 their necks over the edge (Fig. 44), and when 
 they saw the pioneer safe in the water, the rest 
 followed. 
 
 When diving into shallow water they fall flat 
 (Figs. 45, 46, and 47), but into deep water, and from 
 any considerable height, they assume the most per- 
 fect positions (Fig. 50) and make very little splash. 
 Occasionally we saw them stand hesitating to dive 
 at a height of some twenty feet, but generally they 
 descended to some lower spot, and did not often 
 dive from such a height, but twelve feet was no 
 uncommon dive for them. 
 
 The reluctance shown by each individual of a 
 party of intending bathers to be the first to enter 
 the water may partly have been explained when, 
 later on, we discovered that a large number of 
 sea-leopards were gathered in the sea in the neigh- 
 
 83
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 bourhood of the rookery to prey on the penguins. 
 These formidable animals, of which I show some 
 photographs, used to lurk beneath the overhanging 
 ledges of the ice-foot, out of sight of the birds 
 on the ice overhead. (Fig. 51.) They lay quite 
 still in the water, only their heads protruding, until 
 a party of Adelies would descend into the water 
 almost on top of them, when with a sudden dash 
 and snap of their great formidable jaws, they would 
 secure one of the birds. 
 
 It seemed to me then, that all the chivvying 
 and preliminaries which they went through before 
 entering the water, arose mainly from a desire on 
 the part of each penguin to get one of its neighbours 
 to go in first in order to prove whether the coast 
 was clear or not, though all this manoeuvring was 
 certainly taken very lightly, and quite in the nature 
 of a game. This indeed was not surprising, for of 
 all the animals of which I have had any experience, 
 I think the Adelie penguin is the very bravest. 
 The more we saw of them the fonder we became 
 of them and the more we admired their indomitable 
 courage. The appearance of a sea-leopard in their 
 midst was the one thing that caused them any panic. 
 With dozens of these enemies about they would 
 gambol in the sea in the most light-hearted manner, 
 84
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 but the appearance of one among them was the 
 signal for a stampede, but even this was invariably 
 gone through in an orderly manner with some show 
 of reason, for, porpoising off in a clump, they at 
 once spread themselves out, scattering in a fan- 
 shaped formation as they sped away, instead of 
 all following the same direction. 
 
 As far as I could judge, however, the sea-leopards 
 are a trifle faster in the water than the Adelies, as 
 one of them occasionally would catch up with one 
 of the fugitives, who then, realizing that speed alone 
 would not avail him, started dodging from side to 
 side, and sometimes swam rapidly round and round 
 in a circle of about twelve feet diameter for a full 
 minute or more, doubtless knowing that he was 
 quicker in turning than his great heavy pursuer, but 
 exhaustion would overtake him in the end, and we 
 could see the head and jaws of the great sea-leopard 
 rise to the surface as he grabbed his victim. The 
 sight of a panic-stricken little Adelie tearing round 
 and round in this manner was a sadly common 
 sight late in the season. 
 
 Sea-leopards are no mean customers and should 
 be treated with caution. Commander Campbell 
 and I used to hunt them from a little Norwegian 
 pram (a species of dinghy) which we rowed quietly 
 
 85
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 up and down close under the ice-foot, shooting at 
 the sea-leopards with a rifle when we saw their 
 heads above water. 
 
 One day we had an interesting little adventure. 
 We had shot and killed one, a fine bull about ten feet 
 long, which had sunk to the bottom in some five 
 fathoms. Having just pulled away from him, we 
 were about ten yards from the ice-foot, when another 
 very large sea-leopard overtook us, swimming from 
 the direction of the dead bull. It passed under the 
 pram, bumping against the keel in doing so. 
 When about ten yards ahead of us it turned 
 and made straight back for us, but as we were 
 bows-on to it, it came right alongside the boat, 
 churning up the water and wetting us. At this 
 moment it turned on its side, its right fore- flipper 
 beating the surface and its belly towards us, and 
 was just starting to rear its head up when we both 
 lunged at it with our paddles, and so pushed the 
 little boat away from it. This brought us alongside 
 the ice-foot, from which Campbell got a shot at it 
 half a minute later, and wounded it in the neck. 
 The moment after we lunged at it with our paddles 
 it dived, then reappeared ten or fifteen yards off, 
 rearing its head out of the water, and it was at this 
 moment that Campbell shot it. After this it 
 86
 
 FIG. 53. A SEA-LEOPARD 10 FT. 6l INS. LONG 
 
 ' *? 
 
 FIG. 54. A YOUNG SEA-LEOPAHD ON SEA-ICE
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 reappeared several times at the surface, but drifted 
 away with the tide and we lost it. 
 
 The sea-leopard has not a reputation for attacking 
 men in boats, and this one may have been actuated 
 by curiosity merely, but in favour of its meaning to 
 attack us were, first, that it came to us straight 
 from the direction of the dead bull we had shot, 
 and secondly, that it seems hardly likely that after 
 bumping against our keel, mere curiosity could 
 have tempted it to come back and try to look over 
 the gunwale ! As a rule we had to drift very 
 quietly along when hunting sea-leopards, as the 
 slightest sound frightened them away. 
 
 All that we could do to protect our friends was 
 to shoot as many of these sea-leopards as possible, 
 but though we may have made some difference, 
 there were always many about. 
 
 Some idea of the depredations committed by 
 these animals may be gathered from the fact that 
 in the stomach of one which we shot I found the 
 bodies of eighteen penguins, in various stages of 
 digestion, the beast's intestines being literally 
 stuffed with the feathers remaining from the dis- 
 integration of many more. Photographs of these 
 animals are seen in Figs. 52, 53, and 54. 
 
 Though the actual presence of a sea-leopard 
 
 87
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 put the Addlies to confusion, causing them to 
 " porpoise " madly away for a few hundred yards, 
 yet once away from the immediate neighbourhood 
 of the arch enemy, they appeared to think no more 
 of him, and behaved as though there were no 
 further need for anxiety, though probably they 
 kept a sharp look-out nevertheless. Evidence 
 goes to show that the sea-leopard is the only living 
 enemy, excepting man, that threatens the life of 
 the adult Adelie penguin. 
 
 One day, as I watched some hundreds of Adelies 
 bathing in an open lead, suddenly the back of an 
 enormous killer- whale (Orca gladiator] rose above 
 the surface as it crossed the lead from side to side, 
 appearing from beneath the ice on one side and 
 disappearing beneath it on the other. To my 
 surprise, not the slightest fear was shown by the 
 birds in the water. Had this beast been a sea- 
 leopard, there would have been a stampede, and 
 every bird have leapt from the water on to the sea- 
 ice. On this evidence I formed the opinion that in 
 all probability killer- whales do no harm to Adelie 
 penguins ; later I saw it confirmed, when a school 
 of killers shaved close past several floes that were 
 crowded with Adelies, and made not the least 
 attempt to get at them, as they might so easily 
 88
 
 o a 
 
 aa H
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 have done by upsetting the floes. Very probably 
 this is because the agile bird can escape with such 
 ease from the ponderous whale, and fears it no more 
 than a terrier fears a cow, though he thinks twice i 
 before coming within reach of its jaws. 
 
 When the sea-ice had gone but, leaving open 
 water right up to the ice-foot, a ledge of ice was 
 left along the western side of the rookery, forming 
 a sort of terrace or " front," with its sides composed 
 of blue ice, rising sheer out of the water to a height 
 of some six feet or more in places. From this point 
 of vantage it was possible to stand and watch the 
 penguins as they swam in the clear water below, 
 and some idea was formed of their wonderful 
 agility when swimming beneath the surface. As 
 they propelled themselves along with powerful 
 strokes of their wings, they swerved from side to 
 side to secure the little prawn-like euphausia which 
 literally swarm everywhere in the Antarctic seas, 
 affording them ample food at all times. Their 
 gluttonous habits here became very evident. They 
 would gobble euphausia until they could hold no 
 more, only to vomit the whole meal into the water 
 as they swam, and so enlightened start to feast 
 again. As they winged their way along, several 
 feet beneath the surface, a milky cloud would 
 
 89
 
 ADfiLIE PENGUINS 
 
 suddenly issue from their mouths and drift slowly 
 away down stream, as, without the slightest pause 
 in their career, they dashed eagerly along in the 
 hunt for more. 
 
 When a penguin returned to his mate on the 
 nest, after his jaunt in the sea, much formality had 
 to be gone through before he was allowed to take 
 charge of the eggs. This ceremony of "relieving 
 guard " almost invariably was observed. 
 
 Going up to his mate, with much graceful arching 
 of his neck, he appeared to assure her in guttural 
 tones of his readiness to take charge (Fig. 55). 
 At this she would become very agitated, replying 
 with raucous staccato notes, and refusing to budge 
 from her position on the eggs. Then both would 
 become angry for a while, arguing in a very heated 
 manner, until at last she would rise, and, standing 
 by the side of the nest, allow him to walk on to 
 it, which he immediately did, and after carefully 
 placing the eggs in position, sink down upon them, 
 afterwards thrusting his bill beneath his breast to 
 push them gently into a comfortable position. 
 After staying by him for a little while, the other 
 at length would go off to bathe and feed. 
 
 The length of time during which each bird was 
 away varied considerably, but a " watch bill " was 
 90
 
 i :*. 
 
 Fic. 56. " THE CHICKS BE<;AN TO APPEAR' 
 (A TYPICAL GROUP OF NESTS) 
 
 FIG. 57. AN ADKLIE HEINO SICK 
 
 94)
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 kept of one particular pair with the following 
 result : * 
 
 Nov. 14. Egg laid. Hen sitting. 
 
 Nov. 27. A cock seen to join the hen for the 
 first time since the 14th. He took 
 her place on the nest. This was the 
 first day on which any red guano 
 was seen about the nest. 
 
 Dec. 10. The hen returned between 8 P.M. and 
 10 P.M., having been absent since 
 November 27. Fresh red guano: 
 the first for many days. 
 
 Dec. 14. The cock relieved the hen between 
 8 A.M. and 10 A.M. 
 
 Dec. 15. The hen relieved the cock between 
 8 A.M. and 10 A.M. Between 6 P.M. 
 and 8 P.M. the chick was hatched, the 
 hen remaining on the nest. 
 
 Dec. 17. At 8 A.M. the cock was found to have 
 relieved the hen. 
 
 Dec. 18. Hen mounted guard between 6 P.M. 
 and 8 P.M. 
 
 Dec. 20. Cock relieved guard about 8 A.M. At 
 
 * This " watch-bill " was kindly kept for me by Mr. Priestly on 
 his meteorological rounds, the nests being near the thermometer 
 screen. 
 
 91
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 8 P.M. both cock and hen were at 
 the nest, the hen standing by it, the 
 cock on it. 
 
 Dec. 21. The hen relieved guard at 8 P.M. 
 
 Dec. 23. Cock came back at noon and relieved 
 guard. 
 
 Dec. 24. The cock remained on guard all day. 
 The hen was gone from 1 P.M. till 6 
 P.M., when she returned and relieved 
 guard. 
 
 Dec. 25. 8 A.M. Both at nest, hen still on. 
 10 A.M. changed guard. Hen gone. 
 
 Dec. 26. Hen on nest. Cock standing near. 
 
 Dec. 27. 8 A.M. Cock on nest. 
 
 Dec. 28. 8 A.M. Hen on nest. 
 
 Dec. 29. Cock relieved guard. 
 
 Dec. 30. Hen arrived 3 P.M. and relieved guard. 
 
 Dec. 31. 10 P.M to midnight, changed, cock on. 
 Both there at 10 P.M. 
 
 Jan. 1. 10 A.M. Both at nest. 
 
 12 noon. Both at nest. The youngster 
 complicating matters by running 
 away every time he was passed by 
 the observer, thus getting himself 
 and his parents embroiled with the 
 neighbours. 
 92
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 Jan. 1. 2 P.M. Hen on nest. Cock gone. 
 Jan. 2. 10 A.M. Hen on nest. 
 
 12 noon. Chick disappeared. 
 
 2 P.M. Nest deserted. 
 
 4 P.M. Cock on nest. No chick. 
 
 8 P.M. Cock on nest. No chick. 
 Jan. 3. Cock on the nest with the chick. 
 
 From the above Table it will be seen that the 
 hen was not relieved by the cock until a fortnight 
 after she had laid her egg (in this case there was 
 only one) so that probably she had been without 
 food for a month. Then she left, and only returned 
 to relieve the cock after the lapse of another fort- 
 night, it being worth remarking that each was 
 absent for the same length of time. When the 
 chick was hatched, a different regime began, as of 
 course the chick had to be fed and journeys to the 
 sea made at regular intervals for the purpose of 
 getting food. 
 
 When the chicks began to appear all over the 
 rookery (Fig. 56), a marked change was noticed in 
 the appearance of the parents as they made their 
 way on foot from the water's edge to the nests. 
 Hitherto they had been merely remarkable for 
 their spotless and glistening plumage, but now they 
 
 93
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 were bringing with them food for the young, and 
 so distended were their stomachs with this, that 
 they had to lean backward as they walked, to 
 counterbalance their bulging bellies, and in conse- 
 quence frequently tripped over the inequalities of 
 the ground which were thus hidden from their gaze. 
 What with the exertion of tramping with their 
 burden across the rookery, and perhaps on rare 
 occasions one or two little disputes with other 
 penguins by the way, frequently they were in some 
 distress before they reached their destination, and 
 quite commonly they would be sick and bring up 
 the whole offering before they got there. Conse- 
 quently, little red heaps of mashed up and half 
 digested euphausia were to be seen about the 
 rookery. Once I saw a penguin, after he had 
 actually reached the nest, quite unable to wait for 
 the chick to help itself in the usual manner, deposit 
 the lot upon the ground in front of his mate. I saw 
 what was coming and secured the accompanying 
 photograph of the incident. (Fig. 57.) When 
 this happens the food is wasted, as neither chick 
 nor adult will touch it however hungry they may 
 be, the former only feeding by the natural method 
 of pushing his head down the throat of a parent, and 
 so helping himself direct from the gullet. (Fig. 58. ) 
 94
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 When the chicks are small they are kept com- 
 pletely covered by the parent who sits on the nest. 
 They grow, however, at an enormous rate, gobbling 
 vast quantities of food as it is brought to them, 
 their elastic bellies seeming to have no limit to their 
 capacity (Fig. 59) ; indeed, when standing, they 
 rest on a sort of tripod, formed by the protuberant 
 belly in front and the two feet behind. 
 
 I weighed a chick at intervals for some time, and 
 this was the astonishing result : 
 
 Ounces 
 
 The egg. . ., . . 4 '56 
 
 The chick when hatched 3-00 
 
 Five days old . . . 13-00 
 
 Six ... . 15-75 
 
 Eight . '.,,., . 24-75 
 
 Nine '. '.. . 28-50 
 
 Eleven . Y ; . 37*75 
 
 Twelve . '' ,. . . 42-50 
 
 To see an Adelie chick of a fortnight's growth 
 trying to get itself covered by its mother is a most 
 ludicrous sight. The most it can hope for is to get 
 its head under cover, the rest of its body being 
 exposed to the air; but the downy coat of the chick 
 is close and warm, and suffices in all weathers to 
 protect it from the cold. Fig. 60 illustrates what 
 
 95
 
 AD^LIE PENGUINS 
 
 I have said very well, whilst Fig. 61 shows a mother 
 with a chick twelve days old. 
 
 Whilst the chicks are small the two parents 
 manage to keep them fed without much difficulty;* 
 but as one of them has always to remain at the 
 nest to keep the chicks warm, guard them from 
 skuas and hooligan cocks, and prevent them from 
 straying, only one is free to go for food. Later on, 
 however, two other factors introduce themselves. 
 The first of these is that the chick's downy coats 
 become thick enough to protect them from cold 
 without the warmth of the parent ; and the second 
 that as the chicks grow they require an ever- 
 increasing quantity of food, and at the age of about 
 a fortnight this demand becomes too great for one 
 bird to cope with. At this time it is still necessary 
 to prevent the chicks from straying and to protect 
 them from the skuas and " hooligans," and so to 
 meet these two demands a most interesting social 
 system is developed. The individual care of the 
 chicks by their parents is abandoned, and in place 
 of this, colonies start to " pool " their offspring, 
 which are herded together into clumps or " creches," 
 each of which is guarded by a few old birds, the 
 rest being free to go and forage. 
 
 * Fig. 62. 
 96
 
 I
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 It is quite likely that if a chick which has escaped 
 from its own creche joins another creche it will get 
 fed there, as it seems hardly possible for the adults 
 to recognize the individuals of so large a gathering 
 and to detect a stranger should one turn up, but 
 there is good reason to believe that the old birds 
 work for their own creches only, and remain faith- 
 ful to them for the rest of the season, because, as 
 they make their way across the rookery, laden with 
 the food they are bringing from the sea, it is sadly 
 common to see them pursued by strayed and 
 starving youngsters, plaintively piping their prayers 
 for a meal ; and these appeals are always made in 
 vain, the old birds turning a deaf ear to the 
 youngsters, who at last, weary and weak, give up 
 the pursuit, and in the end fall a prey to the ever- 
 watchful skuas. Further evidence is found in the fact 
 that the chicks at the very back of the rookery and 
 up at the top of the Cape are just as well nourished 
 as those nearer the water, who are constantly passed 
 by a stream of food-laden parents. 
 
 Twice already I have mentioned that strayed 
 chicks fall a prey to " hooligan " cocks. These 
 hang about the rookery often in little bands. At 
 the beginning of the season there are very few of 
 them, but later they increase greatly, do much 
 
 G 97
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 damage, and cause a great deal of annoyance to the 
 peaceful inhabitants. The few to be found at first 
 probably are cocks who have not succeeded in 
 finding mates, and consequently are "at a loose 
 end." Later on, as their numbers are so greatly 
 increased, they must be widowers, whose mates 
 have lost their lives in one way or another. 
 
 Many of the colonies, especially those nearer the 
 water, are plagued by little knots of " hooligans," 
 who hang about their outskirts, and should a chick 
 go astray it stands a good chance of losing its life at 
 their hands. The crimes which they commit are 
 such as to find no place in this book, but it is 
 interesting indeed to note that, when nature intends 
 them to find employment, these birds, like men, 
 degenerate in idleness. 
 
 Some way back I made some allusion to the way 
 in which many of the penguins were choosing sites 
 up the precipitous sides of the Cape at the back of 
 the rookery. Later I came to the conclusion that 
 this was purely the result of their love of climbing. 
 There was one colony at the very summit of the 
 Cape,* whose inhabitants could only reach their 
 nests by a long and trying climb to the top and 
 then a walk of some hundred yards across a steep 
 
 * Fig. 70. 
 98
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 snow slope hanging over the very brink of a sheer 
 drop of seven hundred feet on to the sea-ice. 
 
 During the whole of the time when they were 
 rearing their young, these mountaineers had to make 
 several journeys during each twenty-four hours to 
 carry their enormous belly fuls of euphausia all the 
 way from the sea to their young on the nests a 
 weary climb for their little legs and bulky bodies. 
 The greater number who had undertaken this did 
 so at a time when there were ample spaces unoccu- 
 pied in the most eligible parts of the rookery. 
 
 I have mentioned that large masses of ice were 
 stranded by the sea along the shores of the rookery. 
 These fragments of bergs, some of them fifteen 
 to twenty feet in height, formed a miniature 
 mountain range along the shore. All day parties of 
 penguins were to be seen assiduously climbing the 
 steep sides of this little range. Time after time, 
 when half way up, they would descend to try 
 another route, and often when with much pains 
 one had scaled a slippery incline, he would come 
 sliding to the bottom, only to pick himself up and 
 have another try. (Fig. 03.) 
 
 Generally, this climbing was done by small 
 parties who had clubbed together, as they generally 
 do, from social inclination. It was not unusual for 
 
 99
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 a little band of climbers to take as much as an 
 hour or more over climbing to the summit. 
 Arrived at the top they would spend a variable 
 period there, sometimes descending at once, some- 
 times spending a considerable time there, gazing 
 contentedly about them, or peering over the edge 
 to chatter with other parties below. 
 
 Again, about half a mile from the beach, a large 
 berg some one hundred feet in height was grounded 
 in fairly deep water, accessible at first over the sea- 
 ice, but later, when this had gone, surrounded by 
 open water. Its sides were sheer except on one side, 
 which sloped steeply from the water's edge to the top. 
 
 From the time when they first went to the sea to 
 feed until the end of the season, there was a con- 
 tinual stream of penguins ascending and descend- 
 ing the berg. As I watched them through glasses I 
 saw that they had worn deep paths in the snow from 
 base to summit. They had absolutely nothing to 
 gain by going to all this trouble but the pleasure 
 they seemed to derive from the climb, and when 
 at the top, merely had a good look round and came 
 down again. 
 
 When the birds were arriving at the rookery I 
 watched for those who were to nest up the cliff, and 
 several times saw birds on arriving at the rookery 
 100
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 make for the heights without any hesitation, thread- 
 ing their way almost in a straight line through the 
 nests to the screes at the bottom of the cliff, and 
 up these to one or other of the paths leading up its 
 side. Probably these had been hatched there, or 
 had nested there before, and were making their 
 way to their old haunts, but my notes on their 
 nesting habits go to show that the cocks, at any 
 rate, cannot keep to the same spot during succes- 
 sive years. It is the hen who chooses the site, and 
 stays on it, as I have shown, until a mate comes to 
 her, and wins her, very often only after defeating 
 many other competitors. 
 
 The waste of life in an Adelie rookery is very 
 great, and is due to the following causes : 
 
 The eggs. 
 Skuas. 
 
 Cocks fighting among the nests. 
 Floods from thaw water. 
 Death of parents. 
 Snow-drifts. 
 Landslides. 
 
 The young chicks. 
 Skuas. 
 Landslides. 
 
 101
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 " Hooligan " cocks. 
 Getting lost. 
 Death of parents. 
 
 Adults. 
 
 Sea-leopards. 
 
 Landslides. 
 
 Snow-drifts. 
 
 In the above lists I have made no mention of 
 the wanton depredations committed owing to the 
 licence given to ignorant seamen by expeditions 
 which visit the Antarctic from time to time, but as 
 these visits are made at rare intervals, they cannot 
 greatly affect the population. 
 
 Some of the items in my list require explanation. 
 The screes at the foot of the cliff at Cape Adare 
 are perhaps the most thickly populated part of 
 the rookery. As the thaw proceeds, boulders of 
 different sizes are continually falling down the 
 cliff, some of them for many hundreds of feet 
 before they finally plunge in among the nests on 
 the screes, doing terrible damage, and often rolling 
 some distance out into the rookery. At other 
 times, owing to the bursting out of thaw water 
 which has been dammed up at the top of the clift 
 102
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 large landslides are caused which bury many 
 hundreds of nests beneath them. In fact, these 
 screes on which the nests are built have been 
 formed by these landslides taking place from year 
 to year, and no doubt form the graves of thousands 
 upon thousands of former generations. One of 
 these slides took place whilst we were at the 
 rookery, doing terrible damage. A crowded 
 colony of Adelies were nesting just below, and the 
 avalanche passed right through and over them, 
 causing the most sad havoc. We found hundreds 
 of injured and dying, some of them in a pitiable 
 condition. Several were completely disembowelled, 
 others had the whole skin of their backs torn down 
 and hanging behind them in a flap, exposing the 
 bare flesh. Dozens had broken or dislocated legs 
 and flippers. 
 
 The worst feature was that many were buried 
 alive beneath the snow,orpinned down to the ground 
 by masses of basalt. 1" wice I saw one flipper sticking 
 out of the snow, moving dismally, and dug out in 
 each case a badly injured bird which would have 
 lingered perhaps for days, because loose snow does 
 not always suffocate, owing to the amount of air 
 contained in its interstices, and to the fact that 
 diffusion takes place through it very readily. Several 
 
 103
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 of us spent a long time in killing with ice-axes those 
 that seemed too badly injured to recover. 
 
 It was remarkable to see the way in which all the 
 nests which had escaped the avalanche, however 
 narrowly, were still sat upon by their occupants, as 
 if nothing had happend. Also I saw several badly 
 injured birds sitting on their eggs, some of them 
 soaked in blood, so that they looked liked crimson 
 parrots. The amount of bloodshed must have been 
 great, as the snow was dyed with blood in all direc- 
 tions. As a cascade of water followed the avalanche, 
 and continued for some hours, spreading out into 
 little rivers among the nests, many were being 
 deluged, and some of the penguins actually were 
 sitting in the running water, in a vain attempt to 
 keep warm their drowned chicks and spoiled eggs. 
 
 Sometimes, digging at hazard in the drifted snow, 
 I came on birds that had been deeply buried, and 
 though they were held down and kept motionless by 
 the weight of the snow covering them, most of 
 them were alive, and I have no doubt many dozens 
 died a lingering death in this way. Such as had 
 merely suffered broken flippers or legs, I spared, 
 and the next day nearly all of these seemed to be 
 doing well. One bird I found sitting on two eggs 
 which were in the middle of a rivulet of water, so I 
 104
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 lifted them out and put them on dry ground close 
 by, but the parent would have nothing to do with 
 them after this. 
 
 A feature of the above scene, which one could not 
 help noticing, was that however badly a penguin 
 was injured it was never molested by the others, as 
 is almost invariably the rule among other birds, 
 including their near neighbours the skuas. I have 
 seen [a sick skua hunted continuously for over an 
 hour by a mob of its own kind who would not 
 allow it to settle on the ice for a moment's rest. 
 
 Another item of my list requiring explanation is 
 "snow-drifts." 
 
 During both spring and summer there are occa- 
 sional snowstorms, and during these the birds sit 
 tight on their nests, sometimes being covered up by 
 drift. As a rule the bird on the nest keeps a space 
 open by poking its head upwards through the snow, 
 but sometimes it becomes completely buried. Air 
 diffuses so rapidly through snow that death does 
 not take place by suffocation, and the bird can live 
 for weeks beneath a drift, sitting on its nest in the 
 little chamber which it has thawed out by its own 
 warmth. Generally after a few hours the snow 
 abates and settles down sufficiently to expose the 
 nest once more, but sometimes a breeze springs up 
 
 105
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 which is not strong enough to blow the snow away, 
 but simply hardens the surface of the drift into a 
 crust which lasts for several weeks, and the birds 
 are imprisoned in consequence. Then little black 
 dots are seen about the surface of the drift, which 
 are the heads of penguins thrust through their 
 breathing holes. 
 
 On one such occasion I witnessed an interesting 
 little incident. An imprisoned hen was poking 
 her neck up through her breathing hole when her 
 mate spied her and came up. He appeared to be 
 very angry with her for remaining so long on the 
 nest, being unable to grasp the reason, and after 
 swearing at her for some time he started to peck 
 at her head, she retaliating as far as her cramped 
 position would allow. When she withdrew her 
 head, he thrust his down the hole till she drove it 
 out again, and as this state of things seemed to be 
 going on indefinitely, I came up and loosened the 
 crust of snow which imprisoned her, on which she 
 burst out, and seemed glad to do so. She was 
 covered with mire, having for many days been 
 sitting in a pool of thaw water which had swamped 
 her nest and evidently spoilt the eggs. When 
 I put her back on the nest, she sat there for 
 some time, but eventually they both deserted. I 
 106
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 should say that some hundreds of nests were spoilt 
 in this way. 
 
 As I photographed the above incident at in- 
 tervals, different stages are seen on Figs. 67 to 69. 
 
 I have mentioned that eggs got lost owing to 
 cocks fighting among the nests. When hens are 
 incubating the eggs they never leave the nest 
 under any circumstances until relieved by their 
 mates, being most reliable and faithful to their 
 charge. They squabble continually with their 
 nearest neighbours, whom they seem to hate, but 
 only retaliate on those within reach, using their 
 bills only to peck at each other's heads without 
 shifting their position. 
 
 The cocks, however, are less dependable. Start- 
 ing a quarrel in the same way as the hens do, their 
 militant instincts soon became aroused, on which 
 they are apt to jump up and start a furious fight 
 with flippers, staggering to and fro over their 
 nests, and very often spilling the eggs, which are 
 lost in consequence. On certain occasions I was 
 able to interfere between the combatants, and re- 
 place the eggs, on which they would return to 
 their domestic duties and seem to forget the 
 incident. A good many eggs must have been 
 lost in this way during the season. 
 
 107
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 Late in the season an occurrence took place for 
 which I have never been able to find any ex- 
 planation. Occasionally I had noticed that the 
 penguins had crowded together more than usual 
 on the ice-foot, multitudes of them standing for 
 hours without any apparent purpose. A good 
 idea of this scene may be got from the frontispiece. 
 
 One morning Mr. Priestley came into the hut 
 and told me that " the penguins were drilling on 
 the sea-ice," and that I had better come and look 
 at them. I went with him to the ice- foot, and 
 this is what we saw. 
 
 Many thousands of Adelies were on the sea-ice 
 between the ice-foot and the open water leads, 
 then some quarter of a mile distant. Near the 
 ice-foot they were congregating in little bands of 
 a few dozen, whilst farther out near the water, 
 massed bands some thousands strong stood silent 
 and motionless. Both the small and the large 
 bands kept an almost rectangular formation, whilst 
 in each band all the birds faced the same way, 
 though different bands faced in different directions. 
 
 As we watched it became evident that some- 
 thing very unusual was going on. First, from one 
 of the small bands, a single bird suddenly appeared, 
 ran a few yards in the direction of another small 
 108
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 band, and stopped. In the flash of a moment the 
 entire band from which he came executed the 
 movement " left turn," this bringing them all into 
 a position facing him. So well ordered was the 
 movement that we could scarcely believe our eyes. 
 Then from the small band our single bird had 
 approached, another single bird ran out, upon 
 which his own party did exactly as the first had 
 done, so that the two bands now stood facing 
 
 one another, some fifteen yards apart. Then 
 spontaneously, the two bands marched straight 
 toward one another, and joined to form one body. 
 After this we saw the same procedure being enacted 
 in many other places, the penguins coming down 
 from the rookery and forming small bands which 
 joined together. Then the augmented bodies 
 would join other augmented bodies, to form 
 still larger ones, which then joined together, and 
 
 109
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 so on until a great mass of birds stood together 
 in rows all facing in one direction like a regiment 
 of soldiers. One of these masses stood not far 
 from us, a compact rectangular gathering, as shown 
 on page 109. 
 
 They stood thus for a long time, quite motion- 
 less and silent, when suddenly as before, a single 
 bird darted out from among the crowd and ran 
 a few yards toward the open water, when, as if 
 it had received a word of command, every bird 
 faced left as in the diagram below. 
 
 I 
 
 ARROW SHOWS DIRECTION IN WHICH ALL 
 THE BIRDS FACED 
 
 After this the whole crowd marched for the 
 water, keeping its formation almost unchanged till 
 it arrived at the edge of the ice, when it halted, and 
 subsequently entered the water in batches. 
 
 This procedure continued for many hours, the 
 110
 
 I 
 
 FIG. 67. "AN IMPRISONED HEN WAS POKING HER HEAD UP 
 
 THROUGH IIEH BREATHING HOLE " 
 
 
 L ' 
 
 FlG. 68. "HER MATE APPEARED TO UK VERY ANGRY WITH HER, BEING 
 
 UNABLE TO GRASP THE REASON WHY SHE COULD NOT COME 
 
 OFF THE NEST " 
 
 106)
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 penguins that day observing this extraordinary 
 behaviour, the most astonishing part of which 
 lay in the accuracy of their drill-like movements, so 
 that we might have been watching a lot of soldiers 
 on parade. Perhaps the sudden motions of these 
 bodies of birds were brought about by a sound 
 uttered by the single bird which acted as leader, 
 though we did not hear this. The actual reason 
 for this departure from their usual customs is 
 beyond my knowledge. There was nothing to 
 be seen to account for it, but the penguins evidently 
 obeyed some instinct which affected them all on 
 this and two subsequent occasions, when the same 
 thing took place. 
 
 My own idea is that in former times the penguins 
 used to mass together as other birds do, before 
 their annual migration, perhaps as far back as 
 the day when their wings were adapted for flight, 
 and that the phenomenon described above was 
 a relic of their bygone instincts. 
 
 When the chicks' down has been moulted 
 and their plumage acquired, they proceed to the 
 water's edge and here they learn to swim. 
 
 In the autumn of 1912, at a small rookery which 
 I came upon on Inexpressible Island, I had an 
 opportunity of watching their first attempts in this 
 
 111
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 direction. Crowds of young Adelies were to be 
 seen on the pebbly beach below their rookery, 
 much of the ice having disappeared at this late 
 season, leaving bare patches of shingle which were 
 very suitable for the first swimming lesson. 
 
 Many old birds paddled in for a short distance, 
 and crouching in a few inches of water, splashed 
 about with their flippers to give the youngsters 
 a lead. Some of the latter needed little encourage- 
 ment, and took readily to the strange element, very 
 soon swimming about in deep water, but others 
 seemed more timid, and these latter were urged in 
 every possible way by the old birds, some of whom 
 could be seen walking in and out of the water, and 
 so doing what they could to give their charges 
 confidence. 
 
 In this duty one or two old birds might be seen 
 with a little crowd of youngsters, so that evidently 
 the social instincts which gave rise to the creche 
 system in the first place were extended to the 
 tuition of the young and thus to their preparation 
 for the journey north. 
 
 Up in the rookery, fully fledged youngsters could 
 be seen clamouring in vain for food, the old birds 
 resolutely refusing to feed them now that they 
 were able to forage for themselves. The adults 
 112
 
 
 FlG. 69. "WHEN SHE BROKE OUT, THEY BECAME RECONCILED" 
 
 (Priye 106) 
 
 Vic.. 7o. ADKLIE'S NKSTS ON TOP OF CAPE ADARE, TO REACH WHICH 
 
 THEY MUST MAKE A PRECIPITOUS CLIMB OF 1000 FEET 
 
 (I'ayeW)
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 who instructed the young in the water had finished 
 their moult, and were themselves ready to depart. 
 Many others, however, still wandered disconsolately 
 about the land, some of them only half fledged, and 
 moping under boulders or any sort of shelter from 
 the chilly breezes, and long after all the youngsters 
 had departed, solitary moulting birds were to 
 be found, emaciated and miserable, patches of 
 loose feathers still clinging to the new coat which 
 was making such a tardy growth. In some places 
 we found these old birds in holes under the rocks, 
 the old moulted feathers making some sort of a bed 
 which helped to protect their late wearers from the 
 cold. 
 
 Both at Cape Adare in 1910 and at Inexpressible 
 Island in 1911, I found that though young and old 
 left the rookery simultaneously at first, yet after all 
 the young had departed many adults still remained 
 behind owing to the lateness of their moult, and 
 this is directly at variance with the remarks of Mr. 
 Borchgravink on the subject, because he says that 
 the old birds all leave the rookery first, abandoning 
 the young, who are driven by necessity to take 
 to the water and learn to swim. 
 
 Well indeed was it for my companions and 
 me that this was so, for in the autumn of 1912 
 
 H 113
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 we were in sore straits for food, and had it not 
 been that at a very late date we collected some 
 ninety old moulting birds on Inexpressible Island, 
 I doubt if we would have seen the sun rise in the 
 next spring. 
 
 At Cape Adare in 1911, half the rookery had 
 departed when we arrived in the autumn. The 
 rest took to the sea in batches some hundreds 
 strong. These parties wandered about the beach 
 and ice-foot in company for some time, then enter- 
 ing the water and swimming northward they were 
 seen no more. 
 
 Those that moulted sometimes remained solitary 
 whilst in the acuter stages, but nevertheless moult- 
 ing parties often were seen looking very miserable, 
 doubtless feeling in their unprotected state the 
 effects of winds which were getting keener and 
 and more severe now that the sun was departing. 
 
 When all the youngsters had gone, some thou- 
 sands of old birds still remained, and waited for 
 many days after they had acquired their full 
 plumage before they left. Then these in time 
 disappeared, leaving the rookery empty and desolate. 
 On March 12 I photographed the last party : all 
 black- throated adults. Two days later a couple 
 appeared on the beach, apparently having come 
 114
 
 DOMESTIC LIFE 
 
 back for a last look at us. Then these, too, dis- 
 appeared, and as we looked at the empty silent 
 beach we could not help contrasting it with the 
 noise and bustle of a short time ago. 
 
 The last penguin had gone, and the sun dis- 
 appearing below the horizon, left us alone with the 
 Antarctic night. 
 
 115
 
 APPENDIX
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 (A) PLUMAGE AND SOFT PARTS. 
 
 The following description of the plumage and 
 soft parts of Pygoscelis Adelice, which is perfectly 
 correct, is taken from the zoological report of the 
 Discovery Expedition. 
 
 SOFT PARTS. 
 
 " Bill, when first hatched, blackish. A week 
 old, black terminally, deep red at the gape and 
 along the cutting edges. Immature of the first 
 year, blackish. Adult, brick-red, the upper bill 
 black terminally, and the mandible black along the 
 cutting edge. 
 
 " Iris, brown ; varying between reddish brown 
 and greenish brown. 
 
 " Eyelids, black throughout the first year ; pure 
 white in the adult at fourteen months and on- 
 wards. 
 
 " Feet, flesh red ; dusky when first hatched, 
 brightening in the first week or two. Immature 
 
 119
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 and adult, pale flesh pink above, black beneath (in 
 some cases piebald beneath). 
 " Claws, brown." 
 
 In the majority of the chicks the down is 
 uniformly dark and sooty, but here and there, in 
 progeny of quite normal parents, one may find 
 nestlings of so pale a grey as to be almost silvery 
 white, with blackish heads, possibly a reversion to 
 an earlier type, and, at any rate, suggestive of the 
 young of the Emperor penguin, which perhaps 
 represents the oldest stock of all. According to 
 Dr. Bowdler Sharp, the colour of the head is in all 
 cases blacker in the earlier stages than the rest of 
 the body.* 
 
 As the chick ages the colour of its down 
 changes, and all of it takes on a dull rusty brown 
 colour. As it moults the abdomen and thighs 
 change first, and white feathers appear in place of 
 the down. Then come changes on the head, round 
 the bill, and at the tail ; the upper breast, neck, and 
 back being the last parts to moult. 
 
 The feet, which in the young nestling have been 
 almost black, change in colour to a brick-red that 
 shows up very markedly against the rusty brown 
 
 * This was invariable at Cape A dare. 
 120
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 down, looking as if the legs were raw and inflamed. 
 Later the permanent flesh colour is acquired, with 
 black plantar surfaces. The nails are black at first, 
 and later change to brown. 
 
 When the nestling down is shed, the resulting 
 plumage is that of the adult, except that the throat 
 is white instead of black. The upper part of the 
 head and neck are bluish black, the throat, fore- 
 neck, breast, and abdomen being a pure dazzling 
 metallic white, a sharp line separating the white 
 from the black areas. The flippers are the same 
 bluish " tar " black on the back and white beneath. 
 
 In addition to the distinctive pure white plumage 
 of the throat, the immature bird differs from the 
 adult in one very marked particular, which is that 
 the eyelids are black, as in the chick, and do not 
 acquire the staring whiteness which is so distinctive 
 of the adult Adelie penguin, increasing, as it does, 
 the white area of the sclerotic so that the bird has 
 the appearance of being perpetually surprised or 
 very angry. 
 
 The iris is a rich reddish brown in the adults, but 
 variable in the young. 
 
 At Cape Adare the light grey " silvery " coloured 
 chicks mentioned by Dr. Wilson were by no means 
 uncommon ; in fact, quite a large proportion of 
 
 121
 
 ADELIE PENGUINS 
 
 the chicks had very light-coloured down. This is 
 shown in some of the specimens I brought back 
 to the British Museum. 
 
 (B) VARIATIONS. 
 
 Variations occasionally are met with in the 
 plumage and soft parts of Adelies. The least rare 
 of these consist of tufts of white feathers amongst 
 the black plumage of the head. Several specimens 
 so marked were seen at Cape Adare during the 
 summer of 1911-12. 
 
 When these white tufts were present the feathers 
 comprising them were usually longer than the black 
 feathers among which they appeared, so that they 
 stuck out in an untidy manner, and were very con- 
 spicuous. 
 
 In marked distinction to the slight variations 
 above described were the three " Isabelline " 
 varieties that I preserved, and are now to be seen 
 in the British Museum collection. As these varia- 
 tions are very startling, and of the greatest interest, 
 I give below a full description of their plumage and 
 soft parts. 
 
 First specimen captured on the Cape Adare 
 rookery on November 4, 1911. 
 122
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Iris, light brown. Eyelids, white. Bill, light 
 brown. Feet, white. Claws, light brown. 
 
 The whole of the area covered by black feathers 
 in the normal bird was covered by those of a very 
 light fawn, somewhat darker on the neck and 
 shoulders than elsewhere. Sex, male. 
 
 Second specimen captured on November 14, 1911. 
 
 Iris, light brown. Eyelids, white. Bill, light 
 brown ; mandible, blackish on dorsum ; maxilla 
 blackish on cutting edges. Feet, white on both 
 surfaces. Claws, light brown. 
 
 In place of the black feathers of the normal bird, 
 there was a fawn-coloured plumage, darkest on 
 head and neck ; lightest at bottom of back, back of 
 flippers, and on shoulders. 
 
 Sex, female. 
 
 Third specimen captured on December 23, 1911. 
 
 Iris, light brown. Feet, browny white. Claws, 
 brown. Bill, brown ; very dark on dorsum of 
 mandible. Eyelids, white with a pink tinge. 
 
 In place of the black feathers of the normal bird, 
 this specimen had those of a very light cream 
 colour : in fact very slightly darker than the white 
 area but deepening in shade to light fawn on the 
 head, neck, and shoulders. 
 
 Sex, male. 
 
 123
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 The second specimen had mated with a normal 
 cock. In each case the Isabelline birds were very 
 much more docile than the normal forms. For 
 instance, they did not struggle when picked up, as 
 the others would have done, and the third specimen, 
 when brought into our hut, gazed around with 
 curiosity and apparent contentment, and showed 
 not the least resentment at its captivity. A normal 
 bird would have struggled and fought to the last 
 extremity. Each bird was killed with chloroform. 
 
 So carefully did we keep the entire rookery under 
 observation that I do not think it likely there were 
 any more Isabelline forms. Thus we can con- 
 clude 7scPooo roughly represents the proportion of 
 Isabelline forms among the species. 
 
 124
 
 PART IIIj 
 McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 
 
 A BOOK which treats of Adelie penguins scarcely 
 can be complete without reference to the beautiful 
 McCormick's skua gull (Megalestris MaccormicM}, 
 as probably no Adelie rookery exists without its 
 attendant band of skuas, who build their own nests 
 very close to and occasionally among those of the 
 penguins on whom they prey, almost entirely 
 supporting themselves and their young upon the 
 eggs and young offspring of their hosts. 
 
 Mention has been made of these birds from time 
 to time through the previous pages, and some idea 
 of their habits already will have been formed. In 
 point of fearlessness they fall somewhat short of 
 the Adelie, but exhibit, perhaps, rather more 
 caution in their dealings with man than the gulls 
 who visit St. James's Park in London and are fed 
 by the children there, frequently from the hand, 
 though probably in a very few days they might 
 become extremely tame were their short experience 
 of mankind made less bitter. The majority of 
 
 125
 
 McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 
 
 explorers, like most men, though kindly by nature, 
 are entirely thoughtless in their dealings with wild 
 animals, and the skuas approach them only to be 
 killed or severely injured by the ice-axes or rocks 
 that are thrown at them in wanton sport as they 
 light on the ground or hover near the visitors, 
 whom they quickly discover to be their bitter and 
 relentless foes. 
 
 Arriving at the rookeries somewhat later than 
 the Adelies, they do not lay their eggs until the 
 beginning of December. Practically no nest is 
 made, a mere hollow being worked in the ground, 
 in which the bird sits. Frequently several hollows 
 are made before the hen finally settles where she 
 will lay. The two eggs, which are brownish olive 
 thickly and darkly mottled with brown, are incu- 
 bated for four weeks, after which the chicks are 
 hatched. 
 
 From the moment of their first appearance from 
 the egg these chicks exhibit the most extraordinary 
 precocity. Covered with pale slaty-grey down, 
 they look anything but the pugnacious little animals 
 they turn out to be. Their one idea, besides 
 feeding, seems to be to fight one another, and they 
 may be seen to roll about the nest, locked together, 
 fighting with beak and claw. They are fed from 
 126
 
 McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 
 
 the ground, and may be seen picking about among 
 the stones like the little domestic chickens, which 
 they very much resemble. After a time invariably 
 one of the chicks disappears, and as dead youngsters 
 are not to be found, they are probably eaten by 
 neighbours who have caught them wandering ; in 
 fact, Mr. Ferrar, of Captain Scott's first expedition, 
 actually saw a Skua pick up a wandering chick of 
 its own species and fly off with it, followed by a 
 screaming flock of its neighbours, who sought to 
 rob it of its prey. 
 
 In order to find out how many eggs a Skua 
 would lay, I marked some nests, and took the eggs 
 as they were laid. In each case a second egg was 
 laid, but when this was taken no more appeared. 
 In two nests I removed the first egg as soon as it 
 was laid, but left the second, which was then sat 
 upon by the parent, who was content with it, or 
 unable to lay a third. 
 
 When any of us approached their nests the old 
 birds would fly round in wide circles, making wild 
 " stoops " at our heads each time they passed over 
 us, in the evident attempt to frighten us away. 
 Occasionally they would actually knock our heads 
 with a wing, and nothing seeming to scare them off, 
 they would swoop past us time after time in a most 
 
 127
 
 McCORMlCK'S SKUA GULL 
 
 disconcerting manner. In order to keep them at a 
 distance without having to keep a constant look- 
 out, when I was in the neighbourhood of their 
 nest, I used to walk about holding a ski-stick or 
 the handle of my ice-axe straight above me, and 
 they would swoop at the top of this instead of my 
 head, which was infinitely preferable. One day 
 when a high wind was blowing on top of Cape 
 Adare, I had my ice-axe knocked clean out of my 
 hand by one of the Skuas flying straight into the 
 handle, the heavy blow seeming to affect the bird 
 but slightly. 
 
 There was a " skuary " on the screes, close to a 
 thickly populated part of the rookery, but the 
 majority of these birds made their nests right at 
 the top of Cape Adare, from which point of 
 vantage they surveyed the entire rookery, and a very 
 sharp look-out they kept too, for no sooner did 
 we start to flense a seal than a flock of them 
 descended to gobble at the lumps of blubber as we 
 threw them on the ground. In this occupation 
 they exhibited the greatest jealousy, and when 
 there was a hundred times as much blubber on the 
 ground as all the skuas possibly could have eaten* 
 they continually tried to drive each other away. 
 When fighting they rarely stayed on the ground, 
 128
 
 McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 
 
 but leapt at one another into the air, and one of 
 the illustrations shows two Skuas in the act of doing 
 this. Their great spread of wing is well shown in 
 this photograph. (Fig. 71.) 
 
 When penguins' eggs were plentiful in the 
 rookery the Skuas flew very low over the ground, 
 and as they passed over each colony of nests the 
 sitting birds would crouch low upon them, a very 
 necessary precaution, as I have described already 
 in these pages the unerring way in which the Skuas 
 picked up the penguins' eggs when they were left 
 uncovered. Broken and empty shells strewed the 
 ground in the vicinity of the Skuas' nests, and it is 
 probable that in a large rookery, such as that at 
 Cape Adare, thousands of eggs are destroyed by 
 them annually. 
 
 The instinct of the thief is most strongly marked 
 in the Skua tribe, and I am afraid that the mere 
 love of thieving alone actuates them on many 
 occasions. For instance, when I was skinning a 
 seal one day near Cape Evans I left a pair of field- 
 glasses lying on a coat close by, and on looking 
 round saw a Skua in the act of making off with 
 them, holding them by the strap in his beak. A 
 sudden yell caused the offender to drop the glasses, 
 fortunately when they were but a yard from the 
 
 I 129
 
 McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 
 
 ground. Again, when the crew of an Antarctic 
 ship were engaged in blasting the sea-ice which 
 imprisoned it, a Skua flew off with one of the 
 detonators which had been left on the ice. I 
 think the detonator contained dynamite, but at 
 any rate I am told that there was a stampede 
 on the part of the men to get away from under 
 the bird as it flew overhead ! 
 
 When, with two companions, I visited a skuary 
 at the back of the penguin rookery at Cape Royds, 
 the Skuas circled over us in a way I have described 
 above, but instead of swooping at our heads, some 
 of them repeatedly dropped their guano on to us as 
 they passed over, timing the process with such 
 surprising accuracy that I was hit once, and 
 Commander Campbell no less than three times. 
 The following year when at Cape Adare, I ex- 
 pected the same treatment from the Skuas there, but 
 curiously enough, these never did it. That one 
 skuary should have adopted such tactics and 
 another not, is a very curious thing, but it may 
 possibly be that the Cape Royds Skuas discovered 
 the trick during the stay of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 
 expedition, who had spent a year there quite 
 recently, and of the Discovery expedition which 
 spent two years at Hut Point, but a few 
 130
 
 FlG. 71. "LEAPT AT ONE ANOTHER INTO THE AIR" 
 
 (Page 129) 
 
 FIG. 72. A SKL- uv rrs CHICK 
 
 (I'agc 131)
 
 McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 
 
 miles distant, whereas the only men who ever 
 inhabited Cape Adare wintered there some fifteen 
 years before. But this is mere speculation. 
 
 When one of the parent Skuas is on the ground 
 near its nest, on the approach of anyone it throws 
 its head back, opens its wings, and loudly proclaims 
 its whereabouts with its raucous cawing notes. 
 When hovering over food, and at other times when 
 not alarmed or angry, the sounds made by a Skua 
 are very like those of the common Herring Gull, 
 and not altogether unmusical at times, especially 
 when making the little shrill piping note, by which 
 I have often thought that gulls so nearly imitate 
 the squeaking of a block in its sheaf. 
 
 When the penguin chicks are hatched, the Skuas 
 prey upon these in a most cruel manner, and should 
 a chick wander away from the protecting old birds, 
 a Skua is almost certain to pounce upon and kill 
 it. This it does by pecking its eyes out, after 
 which, with powerful strokes of its beak, it gets 
 to work on its back and quickly devours the 
 kidneys. 
 
 The dead bodies of hundreds of chicks are seen 
 strewn about the rookery, and especially in the 
 neighbourhood of the Skuas' nests, as very often 
 they carry them there. All these dead chicks are 
 
 181
 
 McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 
 
 seen to have two holes picked through their backs, 
 one on each side, corresponding to the position 
 of each kidney. 
 
 Besides the penguins' eggs and young, there is 
 another fruitful source of food for the Skuas to be 
 found along the Antarctic coasts at the early part 
 of the year, and that is during the time when the 
 seals are bringing forth their young upon the sea- 
 ice. The Skuas attend upon them then, and devour 
 the after-births. In the second volume of the 
 Discovery reports Dr. Wilson mentions that 
 large numbers of Skuas were noticed at Granite 
 Harbour, and I have no doubt that they had 
 congregated there for this purpose, as when passing 
 the spot on a spring journey along the sea-ice in 
 1912, we saw many hundreds of Weddell seals with 
 their young. So many were there, that as we lay 
 in our sleeping-bags during the night, the bleating 
 of the little calves near our tents conveyed to our 
 half-awakened senses the impression that we were 
 in the midst of lambing fields at home ! 
 
 The soft parts are coloured as follows : 
 BUI black. 
 Iris, dark brown. 
 
 Legs, toes, and icebbs, black, excepting a patch of 
 132
 
 McCORMICK'S SKUA GULL 
 
 bright blue just above the tibio-metatarsal joint, in 
 young fledglings. Wholly black afterwards. (They 
 have a very fine spread of webb.) 
 
 Claws, black. 
 
 The feathers of the head, neck, and breast vary 
 from very light buff, or almost white, to rich dark 
 brown. 
 
 SKUAS' TIME TABLE 
 
 
 McMurdo Sound 
 
 Cape Adare 
 
 
 1902 1903 
 
 1911 
 
 1st bird arrived 
 
 Nov. 3 Oct. 25 
 
 Oct. 26 
 
 1st egg seen . 
 
 Dec. 9 Dec. 2 
 
 Nov. 29 
 
 1st chick hatched . 
 
 Jan. 1 
 
 
 Last bird left 
 
 Mar. 30 Apr. 7 
 
 
 133
 
 A SHORT NOTE ON EMPEROR 
 PENGUINS* 
 
 THE Emperor is by far the largest of all penguins, 
 weighing between 80 and 90 Ibs. It is also a 
 particularly handsome and graceful bird. By 
 nature it seems much like the Adelie, except that 
 its general demeanour is extremely dignified, and 
 its gait, as it approaches you over the snow, slow 
 and deliberate. 
 
 The most marked difference in the habits of the 
 Adelie and the Emperor lies in the respective 
 seasons at which each lays and incubates its eggs. 
 Unlike the Adelie, which, as we have seen, choses 
 the warmest and lightest months of the year for the 
 rearing of its young, the Emperor performs this duty 
 in the darkest, coldest, and most tempestuous time. 
 The only reason that has been suggested for this cus- 
 tom is that many months must pass before the chicks 
 are fully fledged. Were they hatched in December 
 (midsummer) as are Adelies, autumn would find 
 
 * Aptenodytea Forsteri. 
 134
 
 them still unfledged, and probably they would 
 perish in consequence, whereas, being hatched in the 
 early spring, they are fostered by their parents until 
 the warmer weather begins, and then have the 
 entire summer in which to accomplish their change 
 of plumage. 
 
 The only Emperor rookery known to man at the 
 present day was discovered by Lieuts. Royds and 
 Skelton, of Captain Scott's first Antarctic expedition, 
 on the sea-ice beneath Cape Crozier. Here in the 
 dark days of July this extraordinary bird lays its 
 one egg upon the ice. 
 
 In the winter of 1911 a very brave journey was 
 made to this spot by a party of Captain Scott's 
 officers, consisting of Dr. Wilson, Lieut. Bowers 
 and Mr. Cherry- Garrard. The experiences of this 
 little band were so terrible that it is remarkable 
 they ever returned to tell of them. Temperatures 
 of 78 F. were encountered, and the most severe 
 blizzards at lower temperatures than any sledging- 
 party had yet endured. Under these truly terrible 
 conditions the Emperors lay their eggs and hatch 
 their young. 
 
 The mortality under such circumstances is very 
 high, as one would expect. Avalanches of ice fall 
 from the cliffs above, crushing many of the parent 
 
 135
 
 EMPEROR PENGUINS 
 
 birds, and causing hundreds of eggs to be deserted. 
 As Dr. Wilson stated, the ice cliffs beneath which 
 these remarkable animals sat were so unstable that 
 no man in his senses would camp for a single night 
 beneath them. In spite of this, evidence showed 
 that after an avalanche of ice blocks from above, 
 which had caused some of the Emperors to leave 
 their eggs on the ice and bolt in terror, many of 
 them had returned and continued to sit on the eggs 
 which had been frozen and killed by the frost in 
 their absence, continuing to do so long after they 
 were completely rotten. Indeed, in their desire 
 for something to hatch, some who had been deprived 
 of their eggs, were seen to be attempting to incubate 
 pieces of ice in their place, and, unlike Adelies, 
 they seem ever ready to snatch and foster the young 
 of their neighbours. 
 
 The first time the rookery at Cape Crozier was 
 visited, not above one thousand birds occupied 
 it. On the second occasion their numbers were 
 far short of this. By the springtime only one 
 out of ten or twelve birds are seen to be rearing 
 young, so it is obvious other rookeries await dis- 
 covery in other parts, as there are a large number 
 of Emperors to be seen along the Antarctic coasts. 
 
 When in the Terra Nova we made our way 
 136
 
 ,s 
 
 fe; 
 
 FIG. 74. PROFILE OF AX EMPEKOIt 
 
 134)
 
 EMPEROR PENGUINS 
 
 along the face of the great Barrier to the eastward 
 we saw large numbers of Emperors, especially to 
 the extreme eastward where a heavy hang of pack-ice 
 blocked our further passage, and I have little doubt 
 that future exploration will disclose a rookery or 
 rookeries in this direction. 
 
 Again, in the spring of 1912, when nearing the 
 end of a sledge journey from the northward to Cape 
 Evans we passed large gatherings of Emperor 
 penguins on some very old sea-ice under the Barrier's 
 edge, along the southern end of McMurdo Sound, 
 and it seems not at all unlikely that they may 
 breed here too. Unfortunately we were unable at 
 that time to make detours, so had to leave the 
 question unsettled, but if they do breed here, they 
 must have far to go to get food during those 
 winters when the sea-ice does not break out of the 
 Sound. 
 
 The growth of the Emperor chick is slow, when 
 compared with the mushroom-like rate at which 
 the Ade'lie youngster increases its substance. 
 
 Approximately the egg is laid at the beginning 
 of July and hatched out some seven or eight weeks 
 later. During the period of incubation, which duty 
 is shared by all, male and female alike, the egg is 
 held in a loose fold of skin at the lower part of the 
 
 137
 
 EMPEROR PENGUINS 
 
 abdomen, the skin of the adults being worn bare of 
 feathers in this region. 
 
 When hatched out, the chick is coveted by every 
 unoccupied adult, and so desperate at times are the 
 struggles for its possession that very frequently it 
 gets injured or killed by its would-be foster parents. 
 Dr. Wilson has estimated the mortality among the 
 chicks before they shed their down at 77 per cent, 
 and thinks that half this number are killed by 
 kindness. Very often, in fact, they will crawl under 
 projecting ledges of ice, or anywhere to escape the 
 attentions of half a dozen or so of adults, all bear- 
 ing down upon them together, only to meet and 
 struggle for their possession, during which process 
 the innocent cause may get trampled and clawed to 
 death. So strong is the maternal instinct of the 
 Emperor, that frozen and lifeless chicks are carried 
 about and nursed until their down is worn away. 
 In fact, the scientists who visited the rookery were 
 unable to get good specimens of dead chicks, as all 
 of these had been treated in this way. 
 
 Fortunately the Emperor chick escapes the 
 depredation of the Skua gull, which plays such 
 havoc in the Adelie rookeries, because the Skua does 
 not come south until the summer, by which time the 
 Emperor chicks are well grown. As in the case of 
 138
 
 EMPEROR PENGUINS 
 
 the AcMies, the black throat is not acquired until 
 the second moult. When this has taken place, the 
 bird looks remarkably handsome. The bill, which 
 is curved and tapering, is bluish black, but the 
 posterior half of the mandible is coloured a beautiful 
 lilac. The head and throat are black, whilst on each 
 side of the neck is a patch of vivid orange feathers. 
 The rest of the body is marked in the same way as 
 the Adelie. 
 
 The mortality among the chicks being so very 
 high, the probability is that the life of the adult is 
 long, as otherwise the species could hardly survive. 
 Dr. Herbert Klugh has calculated that the Emperor 
 penguin lives for thirty-five years. 
 
 Evidence goes to show that the young birds 
 spend their immaturity on the pack-ice, as all those 
 sighted and collected on the pack at any dis- 
 tance to the northward have been immature, and 
 no immature birds have been seen along the coasts 
 at any time during the summer. 
 
 The food of the Emperor mainly consists of fish 
 and crustaceans. There are invariably many small 
 pebbles in the stomach. Like Adelies they must of 
 course have open water within reach in order to 
 get food, and in the neighbourhood of Cape Crozier 
 this is always to be found, as the rapid tide there 
 
 139
 
 EMPEROR PENGUINS 
 
 keeps the sea from freezing in over a considerable 
 area, so that probably they never have to walk 
 more than a mile or two to get food. 
 
 The cry of the Emperor is very loud and travels 
 far across the ice. When sledging over the sea-ice 
 in the spring, in the neighbourhood of Cape Adare, 
 a curious sound was heard at times, reminding one 
 strongly of the "overtone" notes of a ship's steam 
 horn. The sounds puzzled us at the time, but 1 
 think now that most probably they were made by 
 Emperor penguins. 
 
 The egg of the Emperor is white, pyriform in 
 shape, and weighs just under 1 Ib. 
 
 My own experience of these birds being limited 
 I do not intend to enter deeply into the subject. 
 The only surviving member of the band who visited 
 Cape Crozier during the winter is Mr. Cherry- 
 Garrard, and it is much to be hoped that some day 
 he will write us an account of what he saw there. 
 In the meantime for further details of the habits 
 and morphology of the species, the reader is referred 
 to Dr. Wilson's work, published in the second 
 volume of the British Museum Reports, on the 
 National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904.
 
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