 albatross being
placed in the centre of a little square formed by the nests of four penguins.
Navigators have agreed in calling an assemblage of such encampments a rookery.
These rookeries have been often described, but as my readers may not all have
seen these descriptions, and as I shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the
penguin and albatross, it will not be amiss to say something here of their mode
of building and living.
    When the season for incubation arrives, the birds assemble in vast numbers,
and for some days appear to be deliberating upon the proper course to be
pursued. At length they proceed to action. A level piece of ground is selected,
of suitable extent, usually comprising three or four acres, and situated as near
the sea as possible, being still beyond its reach. The spot is chosen with
reference to its evenness of surface, and that is preferred which is the least
encumbered with stones. This matter being arranged, the birds proceed, with one
accord, and actuated apparently by one mind, to trace out, with mathematical
accuracy, either a square or other parallelogram, as may best suit the nature of
the ground, and of just sufficient size to accommodate easily all the birds
assembled, and no more - in this particular seeming determined upon preventing
the access of future stragglers who have not participated in the labor of the
encampment. One side of the place thus marked out runs parallel with the water's
edge, and is left open for ingress or egress.
    Having defined the limits of the rookery, the colony now begin to clear it
of every species of rubbish, picking up stone by stone, and carrying them
outside of the lines, and close by them, so as to form a wall on the three
inland sides. Just within this wall a perfectly level and smooth walk is formed,
from six to eight feet wide, and extending around the encampment - thus serving
the purpose of a general promenade.
    The next process is to partition out the whole area into small squares
exactly equal in size. This is done by forming narrow paths, very smooth, and
crossing each other at right angles throughout the entire extent of the rookery.
At each intersection of these paths the nest of an albatross is constructed, and
a penguin's nest in the centre of each square - thus every penguin is surrounded
by four albatrosses, and each albatross by a like number of penguins. The
penguin's nest consists of a hole in the earth, very shallow, being only just of
sufficient depth to keep her single egg from rolling. The albatross is somewhat
less
