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May, x9o 7 THE BIRD ISLANDS OF SOUTH AFRICA 73 with Mr. Meade-Waldo and Mr. M. J. Nicoll, two ornithologists who were at the time making a cruise with the Earl of Crawford in his steam yacht Valhalla round Africa. We reached Dassen Island late in the afternoon. We stayed the night at the lighthouse keeper's cottage and spent the next day watching the birds. The Penguins covered the whole island and although it was very late in the season a great many were still breeding. As a rule shallow short burrows are dug out in the saud and the feet are used to throw out the debris. It was a curious sight to see a regular fouutaiu of saud flying tip in the air when this operation was pro- ceeding. Where the ground is rocky a crevice or a shelterexl spot under a rock is used for nesting purposes, but so numerous are the birds on Dassen Island that the whole ground is fiddled with uesting holes and it is difficult to avoid falling into them when walking about. A few small pieces of rag or seaweed or other rubbish are sometimes made use of in the coustruction of the nest itself hut it is never a very elaborate structure. The eggs are usually two in nnmber, though sometimes one, sometintes even three BI. ACK-I:OOTED I'ENGI'INS ON THE SHORES }F DASSEN ISLAND, SO['Tll AFRICA are to be found: they are chalky iu texttlre aud in colour l)lain white with a faint tinge of bluish; but before being hatched are a good deal stained and soiled with dirt. The uestlings are comical looking youngsters covered with a uniform coat of brown down: this gradually' peels off in shreds aud the plumage of the young bird appears beueath, At this stage there is no trace of the white bauds at the sides of the head or of the black horseshoe-shaped hand across the chest: these are probably not acquired uutil after the first moult a year later. We observed a great uumber of young birds lying dead about the island: this is probably due to some accident having happened to the parents while away ou a fishing excursiou, as the young birds are entirely' dependent on their parents for their food. In the early morning numbers of birds were seen marching solemnly in long processions down towards the shore to take their mornlug bath and to go fishing; when hustled at all they fall flat ou their bellies, wriggle along at a somewhat faster pace with the help of their flippers. till at last reaching the rocks aloug the ?hore they plunge into the sea with obvious satisfaction. As can be seeix in the photo-