APTENODYTES, Forst. Tern.
Bill longer than the head, slender, straight, inflected at the tip, the upper mandible furrowed throughout its length, the under wider at the base, and covered with a naked and smooth skin ; nostrils in the upper part of the bill, and concealed by the feathers in the front; legs very short) thick, placed far behind, four toes directed forwards, three of which are webbed, and the fourth very short ; wings incompetent for flight.
Patachonica, Lath. &c. Eudyptes Patachonica, Vieil. Patagonian Penguin. Bill and legs black ; ears with a golden spot ; lower mandible tawny at the base ; irides hazel ; head and hind part of the neck brown ; back dark blue ; breast, belly, and vent, white. Four feet three inches long ; and sonic individuals have weighed thirty pounds. Inhabits Falkland Islands, New Guinea, and some of the islands of the South Sea. It is so stupid as to allow itself to be knocked down with sticks. M. Bougainville caught
one, which soon became so tame as to follow and recog nise the person Is ho had the care of it. For some time it fed on flesh, fish, and bread, but gradually grew lean, pined, and died. This species is not only the largest, but the fattest of the genus ; and its flesh, though black, is not very unpalatable.
M. Temminck has formed his concluding order of those birds which he terms inert or sluggish, and comprises under it the ?Ipterya: of Shaw, and the Didus of Linne, and others ; but so much obscurity still hangs on the history of these real or fictitious families, that it may be more prudent to wait for further information, than to repeat tho. vague and discordant statements of authors who never saw a live individual of the tribe.