Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-12-08
Zoo Life Beuins
For 5 Penguins
In Gold WINGS
BY JERRY O'LEARY, Jr.

Five little penguins from
Antarctica. with gold numbers
painted on their wings like
football players. yesterday be-
gan a merry outdoor existence
beside a pool outside the WASH
ington Zoos bird-house.
The new colony arrived by
truck yesterday in custody Of
the Zoos bird expert, Malcolm
Davis. on the last leg Of their
long trip from McMurdo Sound
In Antarctica. They were caught
by the Navy and Jack Marks,
head Of the Portland. Ore. Zoo
and fiown to America by the
Air Force.
The numbers are part Of a
novel experiment being tried
with the penguins by Acting
Director Theodore Reed and DR..
william ]. L. Sladen. the PEN
gum expert from Johns Hop
kins University. The idea is
to let them live out-of -doors
the year around and to free
feed instead Of being handled.
Under these conditions, the ex-
perts hope. the penguins may
survive longer and breed more
freely in captivity.
They All Look Alike
Each penguin looks like every
other penguin. except perhaps
to penguins: that is why the
numbers decorate the birds
where their shoulders would be
II they were the tuxedo-clad
little men they resemble.
1t Is important for the Zoo
to know how much fish each
bird is getting at feeding time,
Several Of the birds had to
spend q few days at Johns
Hopkins last week because they
were suffering from malnutri-
ton. Presumably this is be-
cause some penguins. like some
humans. have q boarding house
reach. The weaker ones may
have been getting shut out ct
dinner time.
Another factor lies in DR..
Sladen's attempts to establish
the sex Of the members Of the
colony. There appears to be
no external signs Of gender
but certain behavior patterns
betray the presence Of q fe-
male.
For instance. II penguin 4S
Is seen to be neutrality-suspicious.
touch necks affectionately In
q form Of courtship-with pen \
gum 50. the chances are one |
or the other is Q female. Hav- /
ing narrowed the field. the
scientist then has q pretty
good chance Of spotting the
lady.
Cry Like Howling Dog
These are Adele penguins-
pugnacious, curious. hardy
birds who utter raucous cries
not unlike the growing Of
dogs. Each Adele gave Mr.
Davis q bitter fight before be-
ing lifted out Of their truck
cages and released into their
new area.
They have O 30-foot pool.
several trees. lots Of rocks. but
no Ice and snow. They are liv-
ing In q former fiamingo cage.
separated from the public only
by O shallow moat. A penguin |
can leap IL feet out Of the
water onto land. but Or. Reed
thinks his moat viii contain /
them.
IF there's no reason for
them to come out. they won't
go out" he said.
They took TO their new quar-
tiers at once yesterday after
noon. ignoring a nosey black
crowned night heron which
few in to Join them but not
ignoring a bucketful Of smelts.
Inside of an hour they were
getting fish both by hand and
by free-feeding.
The Zoo has five other PEN
Ruins-four Kings and one
Adelie-but these presumably
are used to their refrigerated
indoor cages and will remain
there.
The main problem Is TO keep
the penguins from catching a
fungus-like disease which
plaques them in this latitude.
They looked we'll and happy
yesterday. Certainly they are
the stars Of the menagerie
t0dav