Page:The Emu volume 10.djvu/66

42 an oily track left in the water. On the surface the legs and feet of the bird only are used for paddling; under the water they are stretched out straight behind, and act as a rudder for side to side, sinking, and rising movements. The skin on the under surface of the feet is dark coloured. When the bird is swimming beneath the water, with feet outstretched, this dark under surface is uppermost, and so matches with the rest of the dark dorsal plumage. While in the water the white breast and abdomen of the bird are seldom seen, being only exposed when the Penguin lays over on one side and leisurely scratches its head with its foot, as it quietly ﬂoats on the surface.

The Penguin at Lorne soon became a favourite with the visitors, and was christened "Billy." He became so tame that the children used to take him up in their arms and carry him from place to place. He would eat raw meat, but was mostly fed upon ﬁshes. Sometimes these were the little mountain minnows (Galaxias), caught in the streams of Lorne. But more often sea ﬁsh were given. On several occasions the local ﬁshermen drew their nets on the beach, and live ﬁsh were secured and liberated in the sea-bath. Then "Billy" and the onlookers had an exciting time. The turns and twists of the bird were wonderful, but, as Mr. Dove has remarked, there was no appearance of violent action. The rate of speed was very rapid, but the movements of the wing-ﬂappers gave no true indication of this. They were used in a leisurely, deliberate manner, and at times, as the bird sped onwards, were poised and held motionless for a few seconds, exactly in the same way as those of a swiftly-ﬂying Mutton-Bird. In fact, the whole action of the bird whilst swimming is best described as ﬂying under water. Some of the ﬁsh liberated in the bath were sea salmon-trout, 10 to 14 inches in length. These "Billy" did not attempt to touch, but he pursued them round and round in a curious, half-frightened manner. Two smaller ﬁsh, however, each about 6 inches long, he drove at with his beak, striking them on the body and stunning them; afterwards they were promptly swallowed. We were disappointed in the swallowing capacity of the bird. A 6-inch ﬁsh was the most he was able to manage at one gulp. From "Billy's" size and appearance we fully expected to see a 12-inch salmon-trout taken with ease; but these larger ﬁsh had to be cut in pieces. A curious fact is that Penguins can see small objects ﬂoating on the surface only when beneath them, and, when searching for the food we threw him, "Billy" always dived, and, seeing the morsel ﬂoating on the water, shot up to the surface and secured it. A piece of ﬁsh might be thrown to him, and although he heard it splash within a foot or two of his body, and searched about, he never once saw the food until he had dived and got beneath it.

When coming out of the bath, "Billy" made use of some