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 74 THE CONDOR VOL. IX graphs the3' sit very low in the water when swimming and at the slightest alarm pop down below the surface very quietly and without any splash or jump. forming in this respect a marked contrast to the Dnikers or Cormorants which are also very nmnerous on the island. The food of the Penguin consists entirely of fish caught by diving and of these they must consrune enormous quantities; when captured the3' are invariably very fat with a very thick layer of blubber underlying the skin and on this the3' can live many weeks without feeding. The breeding season of the main body of the Penguins is in May and June (midwinter in South Africa), though eggs and young at all stages can be found the whole year round so that the time of our visit was not very favourable for seeing the island really covered with birds. Between May and August the eggs are col- lected and shipped to Cape Town for sale and the birds are not allowed to sit until the beginning of September. These islands and the other Bird islands round the coast of Cape Colony belong to the Government and are each placed under the charge of a headman. During the egg season a number of additional men, hired for the purpose by the headman, march across the island in different directions each FLOCK OF PENGUINS ABOUT TO LAND ON TItEIR NESTING ISLAND one provided with a basket and a kitchen ladle tied onto the end of a long stick. This is used for scooping the eggs out of the burrows from underneath the birds. From Dassen Island an average number of about three hundred thousand (300,000) are gathered in this way each season and as this does not include incubated and broken eggs the number taken altogether cannot be much less than half a million. According to the Official Government returns the total nmnber gathered from all the islands in 1902 was 469,400 valued at 158405. while in 1901 the number was 630,000 valued at 159,845. The eggs are sold in Cape Town and other large centres and are eaten chiefly by the coloured population. Thourh a little fishy they are quite pleasant to the taste, the albumen being slightly bluish and transparent like that of a Plover's egg when boiled. Of the other birds on the island by far the most numerous are the "Trek Duikers" (i. e., Wandering Divers), a species of Cormorant (PZa[acrocorax capcrisis). This bird is one of the group of Cormorants with fourteen tail feathers and has a completely black plumage with a patch of yellow naked skin at the base