THE CRESTED PENGUIN

Hokitika Guardian, 8 November 1930, Page 6

THE CRESTED PENGUIN

flightless sea birds

(By A. T. PYCROFT in the “Auckland

Star.”)

Mr E. Browne, of Karekare, West Coast, lias sent me a crested penguin for the Museum. The bird is a young one, and was cast ashore in an exhausted condition, living for a week in a lagoon. Immature birds of the species common on our northern coasts, the little blue and white penguins, are frequently cast up after heavy gales. The crested penguin is one of the med-ium-sized members of this family of flightless sea birds, and ’lias not been previously recorded from the West Coast of the North Island. Its total length is 27t) inches, whereas the Emperor, the largest species, measures 48 inches and our little blue and white penguin is the smallest, its total length not exceeding 16 inches. The crested penguin derives its name from a pale yellow golden hand showing above the eyes, commencing near each nostril and passing over the eyes and ending in a backwnrdly projecting crest, both sexes having this adornment.. The upper surface of the bird is bluish-black, each feather having a central streak’of pale blue. The sides of the head and throat are black, the under pints behind the throat being white.

Penguins’ Breeding Places,

Though rare in North Island watei'S, it is to be seen in the West Coast Sounds, where it comes ashore in July to breed, and has been recorded from various parts of the South Island. This penguin breeds in large colonies at the Snares, and in smaller numbers in the south-west Sounds of Otago. It has been noticed as far north as the Bay of Islands. Oliver states that the breeding season occupies six months of the year, during which time the birds are inoi - e or less ashore. At the Snares the laying season commences in August or September, when the birds form colonies over most of the island, being found both amongst the low scrub and tussocks and in the low olearia forest. They tramp down the smaller plants, killing also the shrubs of the coastal veronica. The dying out of the veronica is also, iio doubt, partly due t<y the rich guano soil. The penguin colonies are in close proximity to the breeding places of sea lions, which never molest the birds while on laud, although at sea the penguin is included in the sea lion’s fare. On land the penguins walk upright, but if pursued they flop down and use their flippers as forelegs. When climbing up steep rocks they use their bills as well. According to Reischek, the nest consists of a few sticks and leaves brought by the male but arranged by the female. The nests are placed in caves oi- under large stones near the sea. Both sexes share the work of incubation and rearing the young, the food of which consists of fish masticated by the parents. The eggs take about five weeks to hatch, and the young remain on the breeding ground for about five months. Alexander, in his books, “Birds of the Ocean,” states that this penguin swims with the whole body submerged.

What Penguins Are. Penguins are flightless seabirds inhabiting the Southern Hemisphere. They differ from all other birds in having no specially developed quill feathers on the wings. The flippers, as the wings of penguins are usually termed, are covered all over with small like feathers, and are used only for swimming, although it has been stated, that on snow the birds lie on their stomachs and push themselves along with their wings. They are stout-bod-ied, short-necked birds of moderate or large size, with short, flat, webbed feet, set very far back, so that when on land they stand upright, although the Little Penguin found round our coasts shuffles along with the body bent forward, with a curious undulating motion. Their bills are stout and covered with several separate horny plates, instead of a single sheath on each mandible as in most birds. Their tails are usually very short, composed of from 12 to 20 leathers, according to the species. Penguins are essentially adapted for life in the sea, and are the most completely marine of all birds, rivalling seals and porpoises in their speed. Beneath the water the flippers are the sole means of propulsion, the feet being stretched out behind and used to assist in steering. They travel for considerable distances below the surface, with brief periods of emergence for breathing, and when at the surface swim very low in the water, so that only the head, or the head and back, are above it. The crested penguin swims with the whole body submerged. Some species, when travelling swiftly, progress by alternate leaps and dives. The leaps carry them clear of the water ; they make a short curve in the air, and then take a header back into the water. Most species can also leap out of the water to a height of three or four feet to land on an ice floe or rock.

Penguins Sociable Birds. Penguins are sociable birds, both when at sea and when breeding. For the latter purpose they come ashore oir islands or desolate coasts, and hop, run, waddle or scramble over rocks, and even up steep hill sides, to their breeding grounds or rookeries, to which their constant passage has often worn smooth tracks over the rocks. Penguins are the only birds that can swallow their food under water but they