Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-06-14
THE EMPEROR PENGUIN
Queer Ways Of This Great Polar Bird
i. and It's Yourls1.

ana Its Young, ga3f
'.Not many birds undertake to lay
their egrs in the darkness Of q polar
winter, nor do many birds appear to-
think that sea ice is the most attrac-g
tive ground to sit on. Y sS55 q
When in addition to this" writes
Edmund "A. Wilson in s'The Voyage ofI
the Discovery eve find the emperor
penguin Matching out its chicks III the
coolest month Of the whole antarctic
year, when the mean temperature for
the month is is degrees below zero, +. n
and the minimum may fall to6s de-
grees, ! think we may rightly consider
the bird to be eccentric. s.34
The emperor penguin stands nearly
four feet high and weighs upward Of
eighty to ninety pounds. He is an ex-
ceeding1y handsome bird, with a rich
black head, a BLUSH gray back and
wings, lemon yellow breast, with a
satinlike gloss on the feathers and a
brilliant patch Of orange on the neck
and lower bill. ..3
Ellis movements are slow and state
", and the dignity Of his appearance
is much increased by the upright car.
riage Of his head and bill
Ellis voice is loud and trumpet-like
and rings out In the pack Ice with d
note Of defiance that makes one feel
man Is the real intruder. Penguins
have no fear, but an abundance Of in
quisitiyeness, and will walk up to q
(
around him, with an occasional remark
from one to the other, discussing no
doubt the nature Of this new and up
| right neighbor. Il. BIZ
The method employed by the EN-.
peror penguin for carrying the egg
and chick upon his feet Is shared also
by the king penguin Of the subant-
arctic area, as we saw in our visit to
their rookeries in the Macquarie Is
lands, lsf
sThe king penguin we saw as he sat
In mud and puddles, with his single
egg upon his feet, and now we saw
the emperor penguin doing precisely
the same thing with his single chicken
i to keep it OFF the ice, and we are
agreed that the term pouch, which has
been used in this connection, Is one
which not only. does not describe the
matter, but is anatomically wrong and
misleading
1.-THE single egg, or the chick, sits
Il resting on the dorsum OF the foot
Wedged in between the legs and the
q lower abdomen, and over 1t falls a fold
Il Of heavily feathered skin, which il
i very loose, and can completely cover
4 up and hide the egg or chick from
view. When the chick Is hungry o.
inquisitiye, it pokes out from under
the material Tor paternaD lappet 8
4 piebald downy head Of black and
1 white, emitting Its shrill and persist
ent pipe until the mother Tor the fa
i ther) Oils 1t up.
The feeding is managed as will
cornorants and many other birds, thu
B little one finding regurgitated food
q when it TRUSTS is head inside thu
parents mouth.
II think the chickens hate their par
ents, and when one watches the pro
ceedings In rookery Ii strikes one d!
4 not surprising. In the first place
J there Is about one chick TO ten 81
twelve adults, and each adult has al
overpowering desire to sit on some
thing. Both males and females wan
q to nurse, and the result ID that whel
a chicken finds himself alone there 4
q rush on the part OF dozen unem
ployed to seize him.
Naturally he rms away and dodge