Fig. 82.—The Manchot (A. Patachonica).
In spite of the limited number of eggs, the quantity of these birds found in the south of Patagonia is something prodigious. When sailors land in these high latitudes they take or kill as many as they choose. Sir John Narborough says, speaking of those at the Falkland Islands, that "when the sailors walked among the feathered population to provide themselves with eggs, they were regarded with sidelong glances." In many places the shores were covered with these birds, and three hundred have been taken within an hour; for generally they make no effort to escape, but stand quietly by while their companions are being knocked down with sticks.
In another islet, in the Straits of Magellan, Captain Drake's crew killed more than three thousand in one day. These facts are not exaggerated. This island, when visited by these navigators, was, so to speak, virgin; and the birds had succeeded each other from generation to generation in incalculable numbers, hitherto free from molestation.
The Penguins have no fear of man. Mr. Darwin pleasantly relates his encounter with one of these birds on the Falkland Islands. "One day," he says, "having placed myself between a Penguin (A. demersa) and the water, I was much amused by the action of the bird. It was a brave bird, and, till reaching the sea, it regularly fought and drove me backwards. Nothing less than heavy blows would have stopped him. Every inch gained he kept firmly, standing close before me firm, erect, and determined, all the time rolling his head from side to side in a very odd manner, as if the powers of vision only lay in the anterior and basal part of each eye." This bird, Mr. Darwin states, is called the Jackass Penguin, from this habit, when on shore, of throwing its head backwards, and of making a loud strange noise very like the braying of an ass.
They defend themselves vigorously with their beaks when an attempt is made to lay hands upon them; and when pursued, they will pretend to retreat, and return immediately, throwing themselves upon their assailant. "At other times they will look at you askance," says Pernetty, "the head inclined first on one side, then on the other, as if they were mocking you." They hold themselves upright on their feet, the body erect, in a perpendicular line with the head. In this attitude they might be taken for a party of choristers with white surplices and black gowns. Their cry strikingly resembles the braying of an ass. Navigators passing these islands of the southern seas might suppose that they were densely inhabited, for the loud roaring voices of these birds produce a noise equal to that of a crowd on a fête day. The flesh is most unpalatable, but it is frequently the only resource of ships' crews who find themselves short of provisions in these inhospitable regions. As to the eggs of most of the Palmipedes, they are said to be excellent.
The Grebes.
The Grebes (Podiceps) have the head small, the neck somewhat elongated, the legs attached to the abdomen, the tail rudimentary, the tarsi compressed, the anterior toes united at their base by a membrane slightly lobed in its contracted extent. These birds live principally on the sea, but they inhabit fresh water by preference, feeding on small fishes, worms, mollusks, insects, and the products of aquatic vegetation. While they dive and swim admirably, they also fly with vigorous wing when pursued; but they rarely ascend into the air unless they are alarmed, or under migrating impulse, which disperses them among the interior lakes in the autumn, and compels them to select a favourable breeding-place in the spring.
The nest of the Grebe is usually placed in a tuft of rushes, on the edge of the water. It is composed exteriorly of large grassy plants roughly interlaced, and the interior is lined with soft broken grasses delicately arranged. The eggs vary from three to seven. On shore they cannot walk at all, but creep, so to speak; for they must hold themselves nearly upright, supported on the croup, the toes and the tarsi being extended laterally. But ungraceful as they are on shore, so much greater is their elegance on the water. They are covered with a close warm down—so close and so lustrous, that muffs of a silvery white are made of the down-covered skins of their breast, which are impervious to water.
M. Noury, Director of the Museum of Natural History at Elbœuf, who has carefully studied the habits of the Grebes, relates of the Castanean Grebe, P. cornutus, that its nest is a perfect raft, which floats upon the surface of our ponds and lakes. It is a mass of thick stems of aquatic herbs closely woven together; and as these materials contain a considerable quantity of air in their numerous cells, and from disengaging various gases besides in decomposing, these aëriform supporters render the nest lighter than the water. In this improvised ship, and upon this humid bed, the female Grebe silently sits upon and hatches her progeny. But if anything unforeseen disturbs her security, this wild bird plunges one foot into the water, which she employs as an oar to transport her dwelling from the threatened danger.