_GREBES AND DIVERS, PENGUINS, AND TUBE-NOSED BIRDS._
THE GREBES AND DIVERS.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. F. Piggott_] [_Leighton Buzzard._
BLACK-THROATED DIVERS.
These very handsome birds breed in Scotland.]
The Grebes and Divers are representatives of an exceedingly ancient type,
and are in many ways besides very interesting. Both are common British
birds. The greater part of their lives is spent upon the water, and to suit
this aquatic existence their bodies are specially modified. One of the
principal features of this modification is seen in the position of the
legs. These, by a shortening of the thigh-bones in the grebes, leave the
body so far back that when the bird walks the body is held vertically. With
the divers walking has become an impossibility, and they can only move on
land on their bellies, pushing themselves along with the feet. Both grebes
and divers are expert swimmers, and dive with the greatest ease, remaining
long under water. The grebes haunt ponds, lakes, and broads; the divers
prefer the open sea. Both feed on fish.
[Illustration: _Photo by G. W. Wilson & Co., Ltd._] [_Aberdeen._
ROCK-HOPPER PENGUIN.
The name Rock-hopper is given in allusion to the habit of hopping over
boulders of rock.]
GREBES.
Of the numerous species of grebe, the most familiar are the GREAT CRESTED
GREBE and the little DABCHICK. The former has suffered grievous persecution
for the sake of its beautiful breast-feathers, which Fashion decreed should
be worn by the gentler sex in the form of muffs or hats. Thus a price was
set upon the head of this beautiful and harmless bird, and its ranks were
speedily thinned. Some species wear during the nesting-season beautiful
chestnut or golden "ears," "horns," or "frills" on the head and neck. The
EARED GREBE is especially magnificent at this time.
DIVERS.
These, as already remarked, are sea-loving birds, but they breed inland on
the shores of lakes. There are not many species of divers, but, like the
grebes, they assume a special dress during the nesting-season, more
beautiful than the winter dress.
THE PENGUINS.
[Illustration: _Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S._] [_Regent's Park._
BLACK-FOOTED PENGUIN.
This bird, also known as the Cape or Jackass-penguin, breeds in burrows or
under ledges of rock.]
The PENGUINS may justly be called wonderful birds, and they are undoubtedly
of very ancient descent. For countless generations the sea has been their
home and refuge, and, in consequence, flight has been abandoned in exchange
for increased swimming-powers, which have been gained by transforming the
wing into a paddle. This transformation has resulted in flattening the
wing-bones--and so increasing the surface of the hand and arm whilst
reducing its thickness--and the suppression of the quill-feathers. The
result is a blade-like paddle closely resembling the paddle of the whale,
the turtle, or the extinct fish-lizards. With this organ they cleave their
way through the water, often far below the surface, in pursuit of food,
just as of old their ancestors did through the air. In other diving-birds
the wings are kept closely pressed to the side of the body when under
water, whilst the locomotion is effected by the feet. The penguin's legs,
in consequence of diminished use, have shortened considerably. But besides
the wings and legs, the feathery covering has also undergone a certain
amount of change. This has been effected by increasing the size of the
shaft of the feather and diminishing the vane; as a result, on the front
part of the wings these feathers look more like scales than feathers.
Professor Moseley has vividly described the appearance of a flock of
penguins at sea. He writes from Tristan d'Acunha: "As we approached the
shore, I was astonished at seeing a shoal of what looked like extremely
active, very small porpoises or dolphins.... They showed black above and
white beneath, and came along in a shoal of fifty or more..towards the
shore at a rapid pace, by a series of successive leaps out of the water and
leaps into it again ... Splash, splash, went this marvellous shoal of
animals, till they went splash through the surf on to the black, stony
beach, and then struggled and jumped up amongst the boulders and revealed
themselves as wet and dripping penguins."
Like their relatives in other parts of the world, penguins breed in huge
communities known as "rookeries," a rookery being peopled by tens of
thousands. Their nests, made of small stones, are placed among the tall
grass and reached by beaten pathways, exceedingly difficult to walk
through. Professor Moseley thus describes a "rookery": "At first you try to
avoid the nests, but soon find that impossible; then, maddened almost by
the pain [for they bite furiously at the legs], stench, and noise, you have
recourse to brutality. Thump, thump, goes your stick, and at each blow down
goes a bird. Thud, thud, you hear from the men behind you as they kick the
birds right and left off the nests; and so you go for a bit--thump, smash,
whack, thud, 'caa, caa, urr, urr,' and the path behind you is strewn with
the dead and dying and bleeding. Of course, it is horribly cruel thus to
kill whole families of innocent birds, but it is absolutely necessary. One
must cross the rookeries in order to explore the island at all, and collect
the plants, or survey the coasts from the heights."
Penguins feed principally on crustacea, molluscs ("shell-fish"), and small
fish, varied with a little vegetable matter. Although the legs are very
short, penguins yet walk with ease, and can, on occasion, run with
considerable speed. It would appear, however, as if the largest of the
tribe, the EMPEROR-PENGUIN, had become somewhat too bulky to run; for when
speed is necessary it lies down upon the snow and propels itself with its
feet, travelling, it is said, in this manner with incredible speed.
[Illustration: _Photo by Percy Ashenden_] [_Cape Town._
BLACK-FOOTED PENGUINS BATHING.
The name Jackass is bestowed because the noise made by these birds closely
resembles the bray of a donkey.]
Penguins, though confined to the Southern Hemisphere, enjoy a wide range
and every variety of climate. They are found on the Antarctic ice, on the
shores of South Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and inhabit
many islands of the southern seas, notably the Falklands, Kerguelen, and
Tristan d'Acunha. In size penguins vary greatly. The largest is the
EMPEROR-PENGUIN of the Antarctic seas; scarcely smaller is the KING-PENGUIN
of Kerguelen Island. The emperor-penguin stands some 3½ feet high, and may
weigh as much as 78 lbs. The GENTLE PENGUIN, or "Johnny" of the sailors, is
next in size, being but little smaller than the king-penguin; this species
inhabits Kerguelen Island and the Falklands. The CRESTED PENGUINS, or
ROCK-HOPPERS, of which there are several species, are much smaller; they
occur in the Falkland Islands, New Zealand, and the Antarctic. The South
African form is known as the BLACK-FOOTED PENGUIN. Its nearest allies are
HUMBOLDT'S PENGUIN of Western South America, and the JACKASS-PENGUIN of the
Falklands. The smallest of all is the little BLUE PENGUIN of South
Australia and New Zealand, standing only 17 inches high.
[Illustration: _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."
[Illustration: _By permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild_] [_Tring._
NESTING ALBATROSSES ON LAYSAN ISLAND.
This colony was of enormous size, and included thousands of birds.]
For the wonderful photographs of the albatross at home we are indebted to
the Hon. Walter Rothschild. They are from his book on the avifauna of
Laysan Island, in the North Pacific. Unfortunately for the albatrosses and
other birds, traders have been attracted to Laysan for the sake of the
guano deposits. The birds were strictly protected during the occupation of
Mr. Preece, but when he left they had no friend to shield them, and their
eggs were taken in cart-loads, as the accompanying photograph shows.
[Illustration: _Photo by D. Le Souef_] [_Melbourne._
WHITE-CAPPED ALBATROSS ON EGG.
Professor Moseley describes the egg of the albatross as being held in a
sort of pouch.]
When an albatross makes love, Professor Moseley tells us, he stands "by the
female on the nest, raises his wings, spreads his tail and elevates it,
throws up his head with the bill in the air, or stretches it straight out
forwards as far as he can, and then utters a curious cry.... Whilst
uttering the cry the bird sways his neck up and down. The female responds
with a similar note, and they bring the tips of their bills lovingly
together. This sort of thing goes on for half an hour or so at a time."
There are several different kinds of albatross. The largest measures over
11 feet across the out stretched wings. They are inhabitants of the
southern seas.
[Illustration: _By permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild_] [_Tring._
CARTING ALBATROSS EGGS ON THE ISLAND OF LAYSAN.
At one time these birds were protected; as this photograph testifies, this
is no longer the case.]
After the Albatrosses, the largest bird of the group is the GIANT PETREL.
The sailors call it "Break-bones," "Nelly," or "Stinker." In habits it
differs much from its aristocratic relative the albatross, haunting the
coasts in search of dead seals and whales, and the bodies of other birds.
Professor Moseley aptly likens it to the vulture: "It soars all day along
the coast on the look-out for food. No sooner is an animal killed than
numbers appear as if by magic, and the birds are evidently well acquainted
with the usual proceedings of sealers, who kill the sea-elephant, take off
the skin and blubber, and leave the carcase. The birds gorge themselves
with food, just like the vultures, and are then unable to fly. I came
across half a dozen at Christmas Harbour in this condition. We landed just
opposite them; they began to run to get out of the way. The men chased
them; they ran off, spreading their wings, but unable to rise. Some
struggled into the water and swam away, but two went running on, gradually
disgorging their food, in the utmost hurry, until they were able to rise,
when they made off to sea."
The FULMAR PETREL is a British bird. On St. Kilda, Professor Newton tells
us, from 18,000 to 20,000 young are killed in one week in August, the only
time when, by the custom of the community, they are allowed to be taken.
These, after the oil is extracted, serve the islanders for winter food.
The STORM-PETREL is a small bird which breeds abundantly in St. Kilda and
the Orkneys, and so fearless that it will allow itself to be taken from the
nest by hand. Immediately this is done, the bird vomits a quantity of pure
oil from its mouth. The wild-fowlers make use of this habit, capturing the
bird, collecting the oil, and setting the prisoner free again. A story is
related of a storm-petrel which was kept in a cage for three weeks. It was
fed by smearing its breast with oil, which the bird swallowed by drawing
the feathers separately through its beak. These birds are popularly
supposed to be seen only before stormy weather, and therefore are not
welcomed by sailors, who call them "Devil's Birds" and "Witches." This bird
seems to commend itself to some palates; thus the late Mr. Seebohm says:
"Cooked on toast, like snipe, we found them delicious eating, very rich,
but not at all fishy."
We cannot refrain from a brief mention of the remarkable little
DIVING-PETREL--remarkable because of its unlikeness to all the other
Petrels and its strong resemblance to the Auks. But its tubular nostrils
and certain anatomical characters proclaim its true affinities. "This is a
petrel," says Professor Moseley, "that has given up the active aerial
habits of its allies, and has taken to diving, and has become specially
modified by natural selection to suit it for this changed habit, though
still a petrel in essential structure." On two occasions Professor Moseley
met with them in the Strait of Magellan, and describes the water as being
covered with these birds in flocks extending over acres, which were made
black with them.
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