SEA BIRDS

Southland Times, Issue 20771, 11 May 1929, Page 4

SEA BIRDS

KUSEUM COLLECTION. ALBATROSS AND PENGUIN. The previous articles of this series have dealt with the land birds of New Zealand and with a number of the aquatic birds. In the present article short descriptions are given of the birds found in southern waters. Albatross. It is not without reason that the albatross is generally regarded as the king of sea birds. From the earliest days of navigation this majestic creature has been frequently written about. Excellent specimens of the Royal albatross and the sooty albatross are to be seen in the Southland museum. Occupying a very prominent place in the front of the case is a young royal albatross. Although ten months old this big youngster is covered in a fine down. It was taken on its nest at Campbell Island. Most young birds are ready to leave the nest a few weeks after they are hatched, but it is a year or more before the albatross bids adieu to its parents. The down of the young albatross is so fine that any attempt to collect a specimen in the usual way would ruin it. It is necessary to poison the young birds on the nest, though this calls for a hard heart. The down makes the young albatross look almost larger than its parents. Obviously the bird breeds in Antarctic or sub-Antarctic regions, its young being so well protected from the cold. The adult bird is to be seen standing in the case beside its offspring, looking rather like an enormous goose. It is fully three feet high and its wings have a spread fully double this. The beak is a very formidable weapon about six inches in length with a thickness of two inches near the skull. Though the huge wings of the albatross make it easy to realize its great powers of flight, the difficulty the bird experiences in rising from the water seems surprising. In fact for a long period scientific men have been puzzled to understand by what means the albatross can soar for such great distances. The sooty albatross in the museum collection is to be seen with outspread wings on top of a case at the head of the stairs. The wing-spread of this particular specimen is five feet. Albatrosses are not infrequently seen round Stewart Island. Mollyhawks, striking though considerably smaller birds, are also to be seen off the island. Many people mistake them for albatrosses. Penguins. There are two cases in the museum containing members of the penguin family. In a case on the northern wall are specimens presented by the Scott Expedition. Even better are those which are to be seen on the opposite wall in the same case as the royal albatross. There is the quaint little Stewart Island rock hopper with its young alongside. This is generally found on shore in among the rocks, but may also be observed swimming and diving in Halfmoon Buy. The largest of the penguins is the emperor. Until the last Scott Expedition the egg of the emperor penguin had never been found. It will be recalled that Dr Wilson, Bowers and Cherry-Garrard performed a journey of unparalleled hardship in midwinter with a temperature as low as 70 degrees below zero to visit a rookery of emperor penguins and returned with three eggs which proved of great value to embryologists. The tufted penguin with its yellow' crest, the royal penguin with its orange tufts and the King penguin, the next largest to the emperor, are to be seen in the case. The King penguin has a striking head coloured with yellow, grey and brown. Penguins are of more than usual interest to Invercargill people for a new industry connected with them commenced here when the late Mr Joseph Hatch decided to boil down penguins at the Macquarrie Islands for the sake of their oil. The industry has now been stopped. Most of the penguin species have well developed social instincts and live in great colonies in a very well-ordered manner. While ashore they are quaint and ungainly; in the water they are extremely graceful.