ing supported on the feet, and
kept in position and incubated in a kind of skin pouch which conceals
it from view. One would never guess the egg was there, for, on being
disturbed, the bird shuffles along, carrying it in the manner described.
The egg is large, tapering very much at one end and resembling a pear in
shape. They lay during December and January, and the young are hatched
in about six weeks. A peculiar feature about the young birds is that
the parents feed them for two seasons. They are covered with a coarse,
greyish-brown furry growth, and a year-old chick looks bigger than the
old bird. This furry growth is lost during the second year and the adult
plumage replaces it. The young utter a peculiar sound, something between
a squeak and a whistle. It is probable that the King penguins were never
so numerous as the Royal or Victoria penguins, but the fact remains that
they have not yet recovered from the wholesale slaughter to which they
must have been subjected over sixteen years ago.

Down on a strip of shingly beach the birds parade, when not in the
rookery or at sea getting food. Their proceedings strike one as being
extraordinarily human, while the dignity and gravity of the participants
are beyond description. On one occasion, a large number marching along
the beach were seen to halt suddenly and talk excitedly. Three birds
then left the main body, consulted together for a short time, and then
separated. The other birds immediately separated into three companies,
and each company stood behind one of the three already mentioned, who
were now some distance apart. The individuals of each party then talked
among themselves for several minutes, after which two parties joined
forces and marched off, leaving the third party staring after them.

I have lost myself for the time being amongst the penguins and shall
now return to Blake and Hamilton, who climbed on to the hill-tops the
following morning to spy out the land. The island is generally speaking
higher, and all the more elevated peaks are on the southern half.

They saw numerous rabbits, of which many were black, and Mac had the day
of her life amongst them. These animals were introduced to the island
about twenty-five years ago, and have gradually withdrawn to the
lonelier southern part, though occasionally odd ones are seen about the
northern end. They are very tame and live in holes amongst the rocks or
make burrows in the gully banks and broken hill s