THE PECULIAR PENGUIN

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2161, 29 May 1914, Page 9

THE PECULIAR PENGUIN

. . AND HIS HABITS. The peculiarities of penguins formed matter for amusement at the Philosophical Society's meeting on Wednesday.During the meeting Dr. Thomson, Director of tho Dominjon Museum, exhibited a piece of serpentine found at Maeqnarie Island by Mr. Harold-Hamilton, of tho Mawson party. 1 Dr. Thomson said that it somewhat resembled the serpentine of the lizard (England), but was marked bypeculiar striatums, . which was at first thought',to be attributable to the action of ice, but they differed from ice stri.v tions, inasmuch as the latter were always straight and these were ■ curved, and each one ended in a small hole. They had been, found to have been caused, by penguins making their way over them—hundreds .of thousands of. them,no doubt,.over an indefinite neriod of time. These awkward birds slipped and,slid over tho stones until their claws found a resting place in the'holes. Mr. Hamilton, who was present, said that , tho groovings were made by the penguins' annual march up'the hillside to, the rookeries, Some of tho stones werb , six .feet long and ten feet in width, arid all , were polished with,these mark-' ings. The particular piece of serpentine was found in a creek bed which led to one; of .the big rookeries about % mile frojiit'the-shore-ra.track thafc.was fpllowed'';b'y,'from 30,000't0.'40,000 penguins every ; season; . They slipped and slid and'-pushed, each,other "over on. their way up, but always surmounted the object,- which .they never . went 'round— they simply kept going, and by means' of tho holes, bored probably by millions of .daws', eventually reached tho exact spot iri .the rookery which they desired to nest-in.'- -The distance of tho rookery from tho shore was two miles, and they took an hour and ft half to get up, and an hour to come diwn.