Antarctic Penguins: A Study of Their Social HabitsLevick, G. Murray (George Murray)
Science
Antarctic Penguins: A Study of Their Social Habits
Levick, G. Murray (George Murray)
Penguins
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."
[Illustration: Fig. 2. Dozing]
[Illustration: Fig. 3. Waking up, Stretching, and Yawning (Page 3)]
Dr. Louis Gain, of the French Antarctic expedition, gives us the
following description:
"The Adélie penguin is a brave animal, and rarely flees from danger. If
it happens to be 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; sometimes
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 Adélie 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 invariably
the first thing they did on seeing our tents, was at once to walk up the
slope and inspect these, 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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