BOOKS OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2169, 6 June 1914, Page 9

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

THE ANTARCTIC PENCUIN,

Through' the medium of various works lealing with Antarctic exploration, and with tho invaluable assistance, also, of the kinematograph, the general appearance and habits of those curious and interesting creatures, tho Adelio penguins) have become- fairly familiar to the A much more extended and intimate knowledge of these curious birds and their habits is afforded by Dr. G. Murray Levick; E.N., zoologist to tho British Antarctic .Expedition (1910-1912) in his "Antarctic Penguins, a Study of their Social Habits" (William Hcinemann; per George Robertson and Co.). 1$ is safe to say that no more fascinating study in natural history than that o'mbodied in Dr. Levick's book has been published for some timo : past. The zoologist was, it may be remembered, a member of the.' party stationed at the permanent camp established by Captain Scott at Cape Adare. At this place, a favourite rookery of the penguins, Dr. Levick witnessed tho arrival"of the birds, in the spring, from the pack-ice,'five or six hundred miles Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis Adeliae) escape tho worst rigours of the Antarctic winter. At Cape Adare the zoologist was able to study eiery detail of penguin life during the mating and breeding season, taking of the most curious featuros of their every-day existence. The first birds arrived on October 13, and by the ,20th-of that month scores of thousands of the quaint creatures were busily engaged in mating and building nests.

The Beginnings of Family Life. Dr. Levick gives an interesting account of 'how the penguins court and mate and settle ■ down to a prosaic double' state. There are more cocks than hens, and .consequently unmated cocks are apt to endeavour to break up established homes,. It is not unusual to see a strange cock.paying court to a married hen, imtho absence.of her husband, ' until he returns : to ■ drive away the interloper, but Dr. Levick does not think this ever occurs after the eggs have come and regular family lifo has begun, couples after that being perfectly faithful to each other. When seen for the first time tie Adelie penguin gives tie impression "of a very smart little man in an evening dress suit, so absolutely immaculate is he, with his shimmering white front and black back and shoulders. He stands about two feet five inches high, walking very upright on his little legs. When on a journey the penguins alternate their walking—four inches at a step—by a much, quicker procedure, that of tobog-. ganning on their breasts,' and impelling themselves "by alternate powerful little strokes of their legs behind them." Arrived at tho rookory, the unmated hens scoop out a hole in the ground and then await tho amorous approaches of tho cocks, who, once an understanding is arrived at with their futuro spouses, set to work carrying stones and., pebbles, wherewith tho nests aro to be I built." "Different couples;" says the author, "seem to Vary very much in character and mood. Some can bo seen quarrelling while others appear most affectionate, fond the tender politeness of some of these latter toward ono another is quite touching to see." Desperate fights occur between rivaj cocks, the desired hen sometimes i awaiting' in patience the result of the combat, heiself sometimes joining in the fray: .

The Penguin as Pugilist. Hundreds of fights go on simultaneously, there being a loud roar of battle throughout the rookery until the strife is brought to: an end. Dr. Levick gives tho ■■ following interesting account of the ponguiri pugilistic: When starting to fight, the cocks sometimes peck at each other with their beaks, but always they very soon start to use their Uippers, ■ standing up to each other and raining in , tho blows with such rapidity as to make a sound which resembles that of a boy mnniug and dragging his hoop-stick along an iron paling. Soon they start "in-fighting."' in which ono bird fights right-handed, the other ieft-haudeel; that is to say, ono leans his lettbroistagainst lie opponent, swinging, in his blows., with his ;right Jippers,; tho'other : : presenting his breast- and using his left flipper. ;.■:.;•"'.• It is .interesting ; " to note that. these .birds, though ' lighting ,with, ono flipper only, are' ambidextrous..' 'Whilst- batterin" ' each other with might and main° '■'' thoy uso their .weight at tho same time, and ae one outlasts the other, ho drives his vanquished 'opponent beforo :um over tho ground, as a trained bbsing. man, wlioh "in-fight-jng, drives his exhausted opponent round tho ring. Thoy very raroly kill each other, however, and ono curious fact recorded bv tho author is that although, tho Lens not infrequently join in the fray, and attack ono or other of tho rival cocks, he_ never onco. saw. a. cock retaliate on ii hen. Gallantry is clearly a characteristic of tho male penguin.

Tho Penguins' Crsche System. The almost human-liko intelli-vonco displayed by the Adeliss was a ncvorfailing source- of interest to tho zoologist observer. Tho chicks grow so rapidly, that both parents, and not, as at first, the male bird only, have to co down to tho sea for food for the family. But there .ire "hooligan" p«nKHiiis, and, much worse, tho dreaded enemy, tho skua gull, to be guarded against. The skuas never attack tho nclult penguins, who run at them and drive them away when they light within reach, but as tho skuas can t.-.f-e to tho wing and the penguins cannot, no pursuit, is possible. But when tho chicks arri bigger it is necessary to prevent them from straying, and 'the parents aro confronted by tho difficulty of providing moro fowl. A most interesting social system is therefore developed Says Dr. Lovick: Tho individual cara of the chicks by their parents is now abandoned, and in place of this colonies start to pool their offspring, which aro herded together into clumps or circles, each of which is guarded by a few old birds, the rest being freo to go and forage. As to tho "hooligan" cocks, to which reference has been made, Dr. Levick eays tho few to be found at first probably are cocks who have not succeeded in finding mates. . Later on, as their numbers ao greatly increase, they must be widowers, whose mates have lost their lives in one way or another. Tho "hooligans" aro .-.always on the look-out for stray chicks, and it is interesting tq watch the guardian birds, or creehekflepers, holding thorn at bay. : Tho skua is by far the penguin's most dangerous enemy, and it may be noted hero that ho has tho same weakness for penguin kidneys as have the New Zealand keas for those of tho lambs. Penguins at Play ant! at Drill. Tho ponguins are extremely sociable, and Dr. Levick contends that they have a keen sense of humour; The party

were often amused to , see theso quaint creatures treating themselves-'to "a joy ride" on email ice-floes. Theso icelloes are constantly drifting past in tho water, and as one of these arrives at tho top of the ice-floe, it would be boarded by a crowd of penguins, sometimes uutil it could hold no' more. ■ This excursion boat, as wo. used to call it would float its many occupants down the whole length of the ice-foot, and as it passed close to tho edge, those that rode 011 tho floes would shout at tho knots of penguins gathered along tho icefoot, who would shout at them in reply, so that a gay bantering seemed to accompany their . passage past the rookery. Arrived at the farther end, some half a mile lower down, those on the.exj cursion boat would leave it, all plunging into tho tide, and swimming against it until they camo to the top again, when they wonld board another floe for a second ride down. / ' •■■ 1 When bathing, the same love of fun was noticeable. "The object of every bird in tho party," says Dr. Levick, "seemed to bo to get ono of theothers to enter the water first. They would irowd up to the very edge of the ice, dodging about and trying to push each other in. Sometimes those behind would nearly succeed in pushing the front rank in, who would then just recover themselves in time, and, rushing round to the rear, endeavour to turn the tables on them." All this to the accompaniment of "incessant chattering and frolicking. with each other." Dr. Levick also gives a long account of the drill which the penguins practise, under the guidance of a leader, the most perfect order and discipline being maintained. The' author makes, I notice, tho ingenuous suggestion that'this ritual is a survival from the'da.vs when the penguins had wings ,and massed in bodies before starting on their migration flights.

A specially attractive feature of the book is its. wealth !of. interesting illustrations,- reproduced from:., photographs taken by members of the party. These illustrations, nearly eighty in number, reproduce almost every conceivable feature of penguin life, 'and as they are specially referred to and explained in the text,, greatly enhance the interest and value of. the general narrative. Dr. Lcviok's book deserves the attention of all who arc interested in marine bird life, and serves as on admirable supplement to the general story of the Scott Expedition. (New Zealand price, 65.)

THE WAYFARER'S LIBRARY. Book-lovers already, owe a debt of gratitude to Messrs. Dent for their admirable "Temple Shakespeare," .'Temple Classics," and that astonishingly successful series, "Everyman's ■Library." But Messrs. Dent and Co. are not satisfied with the- success of these ventures, and in their "Wayfarer's Library" strike out into a jiew jield, that of the lighter side of modern literature. Tho scope of "Tho Wayfarer's Library" embraces Huniour, Social, and-Histori-cal; Fiction, Belles Lettres, History, Romance, Travel, and the Open Air; indeed, every phase of life, as interpreted by tho best modern writers, will be represented. -As usual with everything that bears the Dent imprint tho ' format is at once dainty and distinguished. There is no special air of< cheapness about the volumes, with their specially-designed art papers, but I confess I do not care very much for the coloured frontispieces, in more than one instance reproduced from weakly-drawn originals. The public however, likes a j frontispiece, and some concession has, I suppose to bo made to popular taste. The print is large and clear, and the paper usedis opaque, though, in some instances, necessarily thin. . But, after all, it is the contents, not the format of a book which really counts and all who look through.the list of tho volumes already issued, or announced for-early publication, will admit that here is a goodly feast of literary enter'tainment. Nine sample volumes are sent me ■ by. the .publishers (Messrs. Whitcombo and Tombs);.: In Social Fiction thoro. Is, the late Sir Walter Bes.ant's "Chaplain of the Fleet," with its picturesque descriptions of London life in' earlier Georgian days, its pretty heroine, Kitty Pleydell, and its genial iF over-bibulous' "Doctor," Mr. A. E. W. Mason's ' fine-- story,' "Running AVater" (with its clever mixture of romance and Alpine climbing, is also welcome.

One of the best of Mrs. Sedgwick's Anglo-German stories, "The Professor's Legacy," .should, in this new and cheaper form, find many readers; and Mr. Do Vere Stacpoolo's South Sea idyll, "The Blue Lagoon," also deserves a hearty welcome. Mary Bradford Whiting's fine story of Florentine and I'errarau life—in tho days of Ariosto and 'Michel' Angelo—is not so well known as it deserves to be, and its reprinting in tho "Wayfarer's Library" was a specially happy thought. Joseph Conrad, that fine writer, so long esteemed by a faithful few,- but. whoso work now comamnds an ever-increasing audience, is represented by his ■" 'Twist Land and Sea," and those who know tho country of Trc, Pol, and Pen, and ran "wrastle" successfully with the Cornish , dialect, will vastly appreciate the domestic comedy of Charles Lee's story "Tho Widow Woman," as good, in its own particular way, as those stories of the "Delectable Duchy," which we owe to our old friend "Q" (Sir Arthur Quiller Couch); In view of the recently-revived discussion as to tho Brussels episodes in "Villotto," and of the increased interest now being displayed in details of tho family lifo of the Brontes, Mr. Clement K. Shortor's admirable book, "The Brontes and Their Circle," is very welcome. So, too. is a volume of the late Richard Jeffords's delightful Nature studies, "The Open Air."

Casually glancing through the list of "Wayfarer" volumes already published, and now on sale in Wellington—price iiftoenponce—l uofcico Wells's "Wheels of Chance," ono of the most humorous things Mr. Wells has written; Arnold .Bennett's "Grand Babylon Hotel"; i'cieival Gibbon's "Adventures of Miss Gregory" (short • stories almost, if not quite as good, in their way, as is Kipling's work); Stanley Wcyman's historical romances, "Shrewsbury" and "The Abbess of Vlaye" ; Quiller Couch's '■Troy Town"; Chesterton's "Tho Defendant" ; tho Hon. G. W. S. Russell's "Selected Essays" (with a specially good essay on Dickens); and Lamb's ever charming -'Essays of Elia" (with Mr. Brock's delightful illustrations). Other writors represented in the first and second batches of the "Wayfarer's Library" are Gilbert Sheldon, H. A. Vachell. Mark Twain, Thomas Hardy, and Maurice Hewlett; whilst amongst the good things promised in future britches are novels by Wells, Hichons, Richard Whiting, Hugh Walpolc,' Frank Stockton ("Rudder Grange"), l'ett Ridge, Barry Bain, Mrs. Bolloc, Lowndos, and essays, etc, by Hilaire, Belkio, Austin-,

Dobson. A. G. Gardner,- J. Milne, and Holbrooko Jackson. Ten volumes aro published every month, so ; there will be plenty of titles to choose- from, and so far, at least, tho quality is, as Mrs. Betsy Prig remarked of "the drinks"—"All Good!" "The Wayfarer's Library" has mado an excellent start, and book-lovers whoso purses aro nono t<lo plentifully garnished, are sure of good valuo for their modest fifteenpence. Ask your bookseller for a list. A FRENCH COLF EXPERT. Of late years tho "Royal and antient gamo of golfo" lias become almost as widely popular in France as it Imp long been in Great Britain, and it is not surprising, therefore, that tho many British books'which'describe and givo practical advice on the game should now hare-a rival "made in France." • This is "Golf," by 'Arnatild Massy, one of tho bestJmown of French golf players, whoso work, originally appearing in French, has'now been translated by Mr. A. It: Allenson. and published by Messrs. Methuon and Co. M. Massy gives some preliminary general advice to would-be golf; players, describes the various . clubs and their special uses, and gives dotailed counsel upon all the leading strokes and niceties of the game; in'fact, his little book may be described as a. jydodaedia in brief of the pastimo to which he is so much attached. His advice is illustrated by a number of ingenious diagrams and portraits of the authjjr-expert in various positions. An excellent -index affords ready reference to the principal points upon which the author discourses. (Pa-ice 4s. 6d.)