SPHENISCUS, Briss. Tern. APTENODYTES, Lath. PENGUIN.
Bill shorter than the head, compressed, very thick, srong hard, straight, hooked at the tip, obliquely grooved, edges of both mandibles bent inwards, the under covered with feathers at the base, and truncated, or obtuse at the tip ; nostrils small, lateral, piaccd near the middle of the bill, and cleft in the furrow ; legs very short, thick, placed quite behind the centre of gravity, four toes directed for wards, of which three are webbed, and the fourth is little more than a tubercle ; wings incapable of being used for flight, the feathers on them being so short as to resemble scales. The birds of this genus inhabit the South Seas, from the equator to the antarctic circle, and are analogous to those of the preceding, in colour, food, and habits. They are fortified against cold by an abundance of fat ; they swim very swiftly ; and, on land, they cackle like geese, but in a hoarser tone.
S. demersus, Tern. Aptenodytes demersa, Lath. Eu dytues demersa, Vieil. Cape Penguin. Bill and legs black ; eye-brows and pectoral band white. Black above, white beneath. Size of a small goose, and about twenty one inches long. There are two or three varieties. In habits the Southern Seas, chiefly about the Cape of Good Hope. Like its congeners, it swims and dives with great expertness, but hops and flutters, in a strangely awkward manner, on land ; and if hurried, it stumbles, or makes use of its imperfect wings as legs, till it recovers its up right posture, crying, at the same time, like a goose, but with a hoarser voice. When it has scratched a hole in the sand among the bushes on the shore, it lays two white eggs, which are in request by epicures. Should a per son happen to come within reach of its bill, when it is tending its eggs or young, it bites severely.
S. minor, Tern. Alttenodytes minor Lath. Eudyptee
minor, Vieil. Little Penguin. Bill of the same confor mation as the preceding, with the upper mandibles black ish, and the inner blue at the base. Upper plumage ash blue, and dusky-brown at the origin of the feathers, the under parts white. Size of a teal. about fourteen inches long. Inhabits New Zealand, where it digs deep holes in the earth, in which to lay its eggs.
S chrysocome, Aptenodyted chrysocome, Lath. Eudyptee chrysocome, Vieil. Crested Penguin. Bill red, and three inches long ; upper mandible curved at the end, the lower obtuse. These birds are inhabitants of several of the South Sea islands. They have the names of 11,pping Penguin, and Jumping Jacks, from their action of leaping quite out of the water, sometimes three or four feet, on meeting with an obstacle in their course, or even without any other apparent cause than the desire of advancing by that manceuvre. This species seems to have a greater air of liveliness in its countenance than almost any of the other penguins ; yet it is still a very stupid bird ; and so re gardless of its own safety as even to suffer any person to lay hold of it. When provoked, it erects its crest in a very beautiful manner; and we are told, that, when attacked by our voyagers, it ran at them in flocks, picked their legs, and spoiled their clothes. Their sleep is uncommonly profound, and they are very tenacious of life. They form their nests among those of the other large sea-fowls, making holes in the earth with their bills, and throwing back the dirt with their feet. The female generally lays only a single egg. They are often found in great numbers on the shores where they have been bred. The cataractes, which some authors describe as a separate species, ap pears to be only the young of the present.