(JACKASS PENGUIN.)
+Spheniscus magellanicus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 151; _Scl.
Zool. Chall. Exp._ pt. viii. (Birds), p. 125, pl. xxviii.
+Aptenodytes demersa+, _Abbott, Ibis_, 1860, p. 336.
_Description._--Above bluish black; broad superciliary stripe
descending on each side of the neck white: beneath white; throat and
sides of neck, and two breast-bands, the lower narrower and produced
down the sides of the belly, black; bill and feet plumbeous: whole
length 16·0 inches, wing 7·5, tail 2·0.
_Hab._ Coasts of Antarctic America and Falkland Islands.
At the mouth of the Rio Negro Hudson once picked up a specimen of a
Penguin, believed to have been of this species, which had apparently
just met its death by some accident. The range of this bird, moreover,
appears to extend much further north, as it is well known to the Gauchos
along the coast, who call it "_Pajaro Niño_" (bird boy), from its
fancied resemblance to a small human being when it stands erect on the
shore.
Darwin (Nat. Voy. chap. iii.) speaks of having seen numerous Penguins in
the estuary of the Rio de la Plata, when approaching Monte Video in
the 'Beagle,' in July 1832; and Graf v. Berlepsch tells me he has an
imperfect specimen of _Spheniscus magellanicus_ from the coast of Rio
Grande do Sul, where it was picked up dead.
The "Jackass Penguin" is a well-known species in the Falkland Islands,
to which it resorts in thousands for the purpose of breeding. Capt.
Abbott tells us it arrives at the latter end of September and commences
laying in its breeding-holes, almost to a day, on October 17. Some of
these birds, however, are found on the shores of the Falkland Islands
throughout the year.
Order XIX. CRYPTURI.
Fam. LIII. TINAMIDÆ, or TINAMOUS.
The Tinamous constitute one of the most singular and characteristic
types of the Neotropical avifauna. Until late years they were usually
associated with the Gallinæ or Game Birds, but differ very widely from
them in the conformation of the skull and in other essential points of
structure, and are now generally regarded as forming an Order of their
own, to be placed at the base of the series of Carinatæ. About forty
species of Tinamous are known, of which eight occur within our limits.