The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-04
CARRY THEIR EGGS.
LARGE BIRDS DISCOVERED BY Ex>
PLORERS THAT DO THIS.

The Nest OF the Albstross and some 9th.
ers Is Whore They Sit bowman Island
In tho Antarctic Regions-The Expo
rience OF Audubon.
Some time ago u small party Of ex-
plorers landed on one of the apparently
barren islands just on the borders of the
antarctic regions and found it inhabited
by remarkable colony of birds that
ranged from large Mother Carey like
birds to penguins Of all kinds and de-
grees. The island was fairly covered
with the feathercd inhabitants, and, as
tho boat ran OH to rock that apparently
afforded landing, the birds. instead Of
moving away, seemed determined tn
resent the intrusion and stood their
ground, viciouslS attacking the men.
who, though they knocked the birds
aside with clubs and oars, made no ap-
probable inroad upon their numbers
The party then formed compact
body, and, armed with boathooks to
push the shrieking throng aside, moved
up what apparently was street here
and there dotted with singular stool.
like objects about feet in width,
larger at the top. These were the nests
of the albatross, and, as the men wero
especially DESTROYS of obtaining u set q
eggs, they observed the nests very care
fully. but i'll every instance the bird
when approached shuffied clumsily
away, and no eggs were found, though
the birds were supposed to be sitting
upon them.
l1y- xr-n, ,,,1 ,Aa,,
an egg, but Just us tho men drew near
the bird alightcd and took her place
upon 1T, eying them with suspicion and
uttcring a curious half Kissing sound
They watched her for few moments
and then forced her from the nest, when,
to their anazcment, the egg had disap-
peared rs completely us though it had
been swallowed up. The nest was ex-
anined closely and finally torn apart,
the men thinking that possibly the egg
might have slipped into it in some mys-
FERROUS way, but without success.
One of the party attempted to catch
an albatross, and while he was follow.
ing the bird in a ludicrous chase over
the stubble an egg suddenly appeared,
dropped by the running bird, which had
all the time been carrying it, not under
her wing, as she is supposed to do at sea
by superstitious sailors, but in pecul-
lar sack i'll the skin provided by nature
for this very purpose.
The albatross is famed for its power
of flight. following vessels hundreds of
miles Yet when nesting it apparently
forgets that it has wings, as it can be
handled and pushed about in the nest,
making no attempt to fly or move un-
less driven away by blows. This may
be due TO the fact that the egg is held
in the curious sack and the bird in
stinctively knows that it cannot fly OFT
with it; so it rcsists.
This sly bird is called the molly
mauk- And its cousin, tho great alba.
tross, has similar habit, the egg,
which is five inches in length, almost
as large as that of swan, being held
in perfect incubating pouch.
On Marion island the explorers found
the great king penguin-a bird which
stands half as high as n man, with it's
bill pointing directly upward instead of
out, Us with other birds. AS they landed
and approached the singular creatures,
which had been standing about, they
hoped away slowly, but not an egg
could be found. set of which was the
object of the visit.
The birds had Il peculiar movement
Instead of walking and moving one foot
after the other, or alternately, they
held them close together and hoped.
This excited the laughter of the men,
who finally topplcd bird over, where
upon the egg rolled out upon the sand.
The king penguin was also an egg
carrier, not only holding it while stand
ing still, but carrying the big egg about
with 1t by placing it i'll pouch for the
purpose, holding it in with the broad
webbed feet that are kept closely TO.
gether This explained the curious hop
ping motion of the birds, rs they could
not move their feet without dropping
the egg, but the moment one was forced
to give up the prize it ran .way, using
both feet, like ordinary birds.
This remarkable habit does away with
the necessity of nest, as the bird car
ries its egg with it as it moves about.
In these instances the birds rarely trans
port the egg TO great distance. If un-
disturbed, they probably remain about o
certain locality, but there are birdg
which have been known to transport
their eggs from one place to another,
literally flying away with them. When
Audubon first heard this story of the
nighthawk, called Chuck Willis widow,
he thought it story of the negroes.
Some insisted that the bird carried the
egg away under its wing; others that it
rolled the egg over the ground. To de-
termine the truth Audubon concealed
himself in the woods under nest, hay