Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.] [Regent's Park.
KING-PENGUIN.
This is one of the largest of the Penguins.
THE TUBE-NOSED BIRDS.
Until recently these birds were believed to be closely related to the Gulls, but it is now generally agreed that they are really distant relatives of the Divers and Penguins. The association with the Gulls was pardonable, for they certainly bear a superficial resemblance to them. The birds now under discussion may be readily distinguished from the Gulls by the fact that the nostrils open into a tube on the top of the beak, or a pair of tubes, one on either side—hence the name of the group. Like the Gulls, they are sea-birds and web-footed. Their young are downy and for a time helpless. One egg is laid, which is white, and in some cases spotted with red at the large end. As a rule no nest is made, but the egg laid on the bare ground, in a hole or burrow or in crevices of rocks. The Albatrosses build a nest of earth, tufts of grass, and moss, the whole structure raising the sitting-bird well above the ground. The Giant and Fulmar Petrels also build nests. The albatross is said by Professor Moseley to hold the egg in a pouch while sitting, as in the case of the king-penguin. The nature of this pouch has never been described.
Although occurring in the seas of all parts of the world, the Southern Hemisphere must be regarded as their headquarters, since here the greatest number of species are found. All are carnivorous, and—with the exception of one small group, the Diving-petrels of the Strait of Magellan—are birds of powerful flight. A large number of species belong to this group, but an enumeration of all would be wearisome. A few of the more striking have, therefore, been selected for description.
The Albatrosses.
It was an albatross which brought such woe upon the ancient mariner whose pitiful story is so feelingly told by Coleridge. But the tables are occasionally turned, for men falling overboard in southern seas are liable to be attacked by these powerful giants. The albatross is mostly renowned for its majestic flight. Mr. Froude has given us a wonderful description of this flight, which is quoted with approval by Professor Newton. It runs as follows: "The albatross wheels in circles round and round, and for ever round the ship—now far behind, now sweeping past in a long, rapid curve, like a perfect skater on an untouched field of ice. There is no effort; watch as closely as you will, you rarely or never see a stroke of the mighty pinion. The flight is generally near the water, often close to it. You lose sight of the bird as he disappears in the hollow between the waves, and catch him again as he rises over the crest; but how he rises and whence comes the propelling force is to the eye inexplicable: he alters merely the angle at which the wings are inclined; usually they are parallel to the water and horizontal; but when he turns to ascend or makes a change in his direction, the wings then point at an angle, one to the sky, the other to the water."
Professor Hutton, speaking with similar enthusiasm of the wonderful flight, gives us, however, another side to the picture. "Suddenly," he says, "he sees something floating on the water, and prepares to alight; but how changed he now is from the noble bird but a moment before, all grace and symmetry! He raises his wings, his head goes back, and his back goes in; down drop two enormous webbed feet, straddled out to their full extent; and with a hoarse croak, between the cry of a raven and that of a sheep, he falls 'souse' into the water. Here he is at home again, breasting the waves like a cork. Presently he stretches out his neck, and with great exertion of his wings runs along the top of the water for seventy or eighty yards, until, at last, having got sufficient impetus, he tucks up his legs, and is once more fairly launched in the air."