One incident seemed to reveal true social instinct. From a small colony all the eggs except one were taken to see if the birds would lay again. As it happened they did not, and, after the birds had sat on their empty nests for some time, they disappeared. But when the time came for the solitary egg to hatch quite half the nests were re-occupied, and the birds took their share in defending the one chick. When the young birds have shed most of their down they cease from hunting the old ones for food, and congregating at the edge of the sea appear to be waiting for something. When the right time, which they seem to know perfectly, comes, they dive into the sea, sometimes in small parties, sometimes singly, disappear and may be seen popping up far out to sea. They dive and come up very awkwardly, but swim well. It is marvellous how fully instinct makes these birds independent, for the parents do not take them to the water and teach them to swim, indeed the old ones stay behind to moult. Though the chicks have spent their lives on land and only know that food is something found in an old bird's throat, when the time comes they leave the land and plunge boldly into the sea, untaught, to get their living by straining crustacea out of the water in the same way as a whale does. Some of our party did report that they saw penguins teaching the young to swim, but if this ever happens it is not general. Like the Emperor, the Adelie is fond of travelling when free from family cares. The great blizzard unfortunately left hundreds of old birds with no chicks to guard and feed, and they began to explore the country in bands. The round of the lakes was a favourite trip, and tracks also led to the summits of some of the hills, although the short-sighted Adelie could hardly have gone there for the view. There was no general trek southwards, such as the Emperors made, but the Southern Party found tracks of two Adelies at a distance of some 80 miles from the sea. While chaos reigned in the rookery I found two Adelie chicks exhausted and covered with mire, and I took them to the hut and bestowed upon them the dignified names of Nebuchadnezzar and Nicodemus. They were placed in a large cage in the porch, and fed by hand with sardines and fish-cakes. They did not, however, like our way of feeding them, and it was necessary to force the food so far down their throats that they were compelled to swallow it. In a few days they became quite tame and recognised those who fed them. Familiar only with our peculiar method of feeding them, one of them used to show when he was hungry by taking my finger into his bill.