The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17540294453)

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo15amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library



Text Appearing Before Image:
THE PENGUINS OF SOUTH GEORGIA 305 flight. Sitting birds alone are stolid and fearless, refusing to be stampeded even after their eggs have been taken. The voice of an adult king penguin is a martial sound, a long-drawn bugle call, highly musical and almost worthy of being dubbed a tune. When delivering the call the bird stretches grandly to its full height, points its bill skyward, and the long volley rings forth from an expanded chest. At the close of the effort the head is tilted forward with a jerk and the bugler stands at attention — a rigid, artificial pose always held for several moments. The yearling pen- guin's call is a clear whistle of three notes, as soft and sweet as the whistle of an oscine bird. The actions of "bachelor troops," that is birds of both sexes which are neither molting nor incubating, furnish continual entertainment to an observer. Such bands frequently come out of the sea during the warmer parts of the day to sun themselves on the beaches. The birds sleep either prone or upright; if in the latter position, often with the bill turned behind the wing where ages ago the ancestors of penguins may have had warm coverts. They preen themselves scrupulously and even perform the difficult stunt of balancing on one foot while they scratch their heads with the other. Their regimental characteristics, such as standing at attention, marking time, and marching in single file or in doubles, are very striking. As regards enemies, I judge that this species is little troubled by the skua gull, the scourge of the Johnny penguin rookeries. Its enemy in the ocean is the sea-leopard. From the stomach of one of these seals killed at the Bay of Isles, I took the remains of four king penguins, besides fish and other material. The magnitude of this breakfast may l)e more fully appreciated if I record that the weight of a mature king penguin in good condition averages forty-four pounds. Since South Georgia has been made a political dependency of the Falklands, the resident birds have come under the protection of law, but perhaps too late to save the king penguins because of the impracticability of enforcing legal re- straint along hundreds of miles of iso- lated uninhabited coast.
Text Appearing After Image:
Mimicking small brothers! 1 broke the spell by stooping to pat one on the'head, when they all wiggled their tails and hurried back into the pond