WONDERS OF THE WILD

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 990, 3 December 1910, Page 6

WONDERS OF THE WILD

« A WINCED SUBMARINE. Rock hopper, the penguin. (All Rights Reserved.) (Br "WiLi Lamson.) It was an exciting timo for the swift mackerel. They flashed through tho water liko gleams of silvery Closo at thoir tails raced Rock Hopper, the' Penguin. In sheer desperation tho fish leaped high into tbo air, and- then llock Hopper roso, too, the impetus of his speed under the | water sending him leaping through the air with wings hold close against his sides. Ho bad his attention on one individual mackerel; ho never let that particular ouo escape his eye for a momont, and at last, with a swiftor rush under water when the fish leaped, he met his quarry on its return to the wator, and in a flash had caught and swallowed it—a feat no bird but tho penguin can accomplish under wator. Rock Hopper continued the chase. Ho was fresh after a day speuu partly in drowsing in the sunshine, with head tucked beneath an absurd wing, and partly in sharing with his mate tho protection and incubation of their ono egg. . Tho sport being good, he mado the pace merry. With him-were others of his kind. In pursuit of their prey, they literally flew through the water liko winged submarines. With feet stretched out straight behind, their wings beat in the water as fins or flippers ■ do. Tho principal stroke was ono which drove up\vard as well as backward, and so kept the swimmers below water. Being lighter than tho water, they would otherwiso have risen to tiwj surface. Tho feathers of Rock Hopper wero closo laid on his body, and hard as scales. Tho few, short, stiff feathers in his tail mado that appendage appear more as a flipper than anything else ; it served as ■ an excellent rudder. His wings had scarcely any feathers. Probably long ago he had feathers liko other birds, but, by adaptation, 110 has become more of a sea animal than a Dird. In colour ho is slatey grey, head and neck nearly black, with a whito splash on tho crown, and white coloured on his under side. , As darkness settled on the Macquarrie Islands, the penguin rookeries, that had drowsed all day, awoko to noisy clamour. . . Night and , day seem to 'be ono arid the same to the penguins, but it is at night, that ■ they are most: activeC Rock Hopper, 1 returning at length to the shore to let 1 his mate partako of. tho joys of the sea,, ' was soon merged in a mass of pea- ' guins. Ho found his mate, though she ' was not in tho place he had left her ■ owing to a heated dispute with a neighbour ; she had moved her situation— not her nest—for tho rook hoppers ' mako.no nest. . When tho. bird in pos1, session of tho egg moves, - it carries tho ' egg with it between its legs, tho egg | resting in the bird's feet. She greeted '. her mato with 'a. hissy noiso as. ho ' waddled to her sido. "Before giving up 1 the charge of .the precious egg, sho | watched a dini shape that swept to and | fro abovo tho rookeries —hakoakoa, tho sea hawk, always watching an oppor--1 tunity to steal eggs or slay chicks. ' Just as Rock Hopper's mato was pass- ' ing the egg to him a rival in- that enemy's race passed and gavo him a ' dig. Rock Hopper turned to retali-. ate—turned but for. a second. In that ' brief timo, Hakoakoa, tho coward, swept down, and struck for tho. egg 1 with his clawed webb feet. ' But the s femalo penguin was too quick for' him, j and ho rose again empty, taloned,' screaming angrily. -And then , Ro.ck Hopper took the egg' in a' crestfallen 1 way, and said nothing' in. reply to his' 1 wife's sarcastic remarks. After . she had gono lie waddled Sway,to a moro • open 'space, whero there were fewer' birds, and there sat solemnly oil ' tho egg. Hakoakoa, tho sea hawk, sweeping about in search of yottng or sick gulls or penguins, saw Rock Hopper withdraw. from tho scrowd, and watehed him. Now and again he swept very J closo past tho penguin, who half' rose and pecked angrily at the maraudor. Tho sea hawk is an arrant coward ajid full of cunning. But the ponguin re- _ fused to bo drawn from the covering of j tho egg, when, .of course Hakoakoa a would have dashed jn and seized ik As tho winged shadow that was'darker than the night, swept on, -there presently came a commotion among tho mollyhawks that told of disaster. Up into tho air rose.Hakoakoa, holding in his , talons, a young bird that . even 'then . his sharp curved beak was v tearing 'to pieces. Its shrill [ cries ■ 1 soon ceased, tho uproar j subsided to the normal' noises of a rookery. Rock Hoj>per fidgetted a Jot: if ho had had brains enough ho would no doubt have wished himself to bo a t king penguin, for that bird has improved a good deal as Rock Hopper's mothod of carrying the egg about. The femalo king penguin, liko tho Rock G Hopper, lays only ono egg at.a..timo, but she has a fold qf skin, between her I legs in which tho egg is carried quito q hidden from. view. s . It was nearly dawn when Rock Hop--6 per's mato returned to relieve him. r She came straight to- him, as he had 0 done to her, despite' his having moved. j s With ■ evident relief he waddled away seaward to dive and leap in tho waves j-j. till sunrise. In course of timo the egg , e of Rock Hopper and his", mato hatched. The ono chick was a comical-looking j_ little fellow covered, with down and much like his parents in colour except that his chin and throat wero white. For about a week they made a great fuss of him. But ; at tho end of that timo Rock Hopper's mato laid another egg, so then attention was diverted from the young one, though' they' fed him fairly well. This does not mean that tho young bird ever went short, j. A penguin colony is a community in is every sense. When t'he old birds go fishing they bring a certain portion of [ food homo for tho young ones who are 1j always left ashore until strong enough II to fish for themselves. On the arrival of tho parents the youngsters rush , en 10 masse for their, meal which is dealt out b promiscuously,. sometimes Rock Hopper lC fed his son, moro often he fed some ie other. chick. And in the scramble naturally the strongest chicks got most ie of tlio food —the weak ones got less than their share. And by a process of j s elimination Hakoakoa, tho Sea Hawk, tl found his means of subsistence. For ■ e the weak ones got weaker and weaker until ono day tho hawk got them. . It. was one hot afternoon that a . commotion aroso on tho seaward side j 1 - of tho rookery. Loud cries of. alarm ig camo from tho sitting penguins. The IC birds that wore fishing wearily for crabs lc and such crustaceaus came hurriedly s _ ashore.' Approaching the rookery were r ; soveral. furry bodies, still wef from swimming and flopping clumsily j over the stonos. They wero not .birds, .but animals with soft, brown eyes— kekono, tho fur seal. Tho seal were noi bent on mischief—they were young seal, filled with tho curiosity of youth. But 11 the penguins mado a dccidedly hostile display. Doubtless, many, years ago, the penguins, livins in pairs, suffered |0 from tho attacks of sea lions and others a of, tho seal family on their eggs anti d young, and so they formed colonies, and [•_ by force of numbers, drovo tb< n marauders away, and tho instinct stil 11 'remains, though now the seal nevei ;o attack tho birds 011 land. _ With beak; and wings tho grave-looking penguins beat tho young seal back to tho water. The smooth, round heads were severe!} punished. Tho nulls and mollyhawks r _ joined in tho rout, and such a clamoui weut up from the rookery for an lioui if afterward. At tho end- of an eightie months' sojourn on tho islands, the -zookeo' of jjexumins disnarsed to spend

four months at sea. Ashore, tlio birds have no enemies, savo man. That is why they are so slow and clumsy when walking. But at sea t'liey carry their lives in their hands, or, to bo correct, their wings. . ... The first .night at sea was ono of alarms, for a herd of sea-leopards crossed thoir lino of route. Rock Hopper was swimming easily along when a whiskered head with rreat eyes broke through the water and coughcd angrily.' Then the beast came charging at him. It was a trial of speed and' agility. Rock Hopper dived, doubled, and ilew like tho submarine ho was, 'right back in his tracks. Tho sea-leopard sensed his ruse, and followed faster. Tho pace was terriffic, moro than Rock Hopper could stand. Ho hung on till the wide jaws opened, then soared liish and long in tho hir, and dived deep, when ho plunged again. He dodged and feinted, and lew for his life. Yet his fate would havo been sealed, but for a lucky chance. A younger penguin, scarcely aware of tho danger, raced across the leopard's path. Too lato the bird saw his mistake, and despite his desperate effort, the huge muzzle drow level with him, tho jaws opened and shut.. The younger bird had disappeared. And Rock Hopper still sped onward and ' onward liko a mad thing. - ■ ,