144
B. STONEHOUSE
Southern Chile. Between 37"s and 45"s lies a narrow warm temperate
forest zone, transitional between northern hot desert and southern cold
moorland coasts (Fig. 7 - Valdivia). The climate is mild, blustering and
wet, dominated by warm (10-16°C) West Wind Drift waters and year
round west winds. Santa Maria Island (37'5) is the most northerly coastal
breeding ground of Magellanic penguins, which here nest in earth
burrows among tree roots or under dense vegetation. Seasonal breeding
starts in early October (Cunningham and Philippi, quoted in Murphy,
1936, p. 445). Farther south the cold temperate Magellanic coastal region
is dominated by west-northwesterly sea drift and winds, both slightly
warmer than their latitudinal means (Fig. 7 - Magellan). Rainfall is
heavy and persistent. To the west, hundreds of miles of sheltered, interlacing waterways are lined at sea level with sombre rain forest, grading
below 48'5 to sodden peat moorland with scattered beech trees (Godley,
1960, p. 466). East of the cordillera lie extensive pampas plains terminating in low sea cliffs or marshy foreshore. Magellanic penguins breed
abundantly in both habitats, laying two eggs late in October. Between
April and September they are absent from the breeding grounds. King
penguins, once plentiful in the Magellanic area (Murphy, 1936, p. 3 4 6
345) are not known to breed there at present.
Staten Island and nearby islets off the eastern tip of Tierra del Fuego
may be the only surviving South American breeding station of King
penguins, Gentoos and Rockhoppers, although Murphy's description of
the island (1936, p. 235) as "heavily wooded" and quoted passage from
de Agostini ('(. . . a chaos of rugged rocks and peaks, almost without
level terrain and with scarcely a shelving strand. . .") suggest that none
of the three species would be comfortably at home.
Patagonia. Dry westerly winds warm the temperate pampas coasts
and give rise to offshore upwelling. The Falkland current, a diversion of
the West Wind Drift, carries cold water northward to provide rich feeding grounds for birds. Sea and air temperatures have marked seasonal
variation (Fig. 7 - Valdez Peninsula) and the climate is changeable
and unstable. Magellanic penguins breed seasonally from October and
November, mostly but not entirely in burrows on the mainland and
offshore guano islands, from the Gulf of San Matias southward. They
migrate northward from the breeding grounds between April and
September, thus avoiding at least part of the seasonal shift of isotherms
(p. 161).
b . South Africa
Between Saldanha Bay (33"s) and Cape Frio (18"s) inshore waters
are dominated by the Benguela current, which begins as a north-eastward diversion of the West Wind Drift and gains its biological wealth
B. STONEHOUSE
Southern Chile. Between 37"s and 45"s lies a narrow warm temperate
forest zone, transitional between northern hot desert and southern cold
moorland coasts (Fig. 7 - Valdivia). The climate is mild, blustering and
wet, dominated by warm (10-16°C) West Wind Drift waters and year
round west winds. Santa Maria Island (37'5) is the most northerly coastal
breeding ground of Magellanic penguins, which here nest in earth
burrows among tree roots or under dense vegetation. Seasonal breeding
starts in early October (Cunningham and Philippi, quoted in Murphy,
1936, p. 445). Farther south the cold temperate Magellanic coastal region
is dominated by west-northwesterly sea drift and winds, both slightly
warmer than their latitudinal means (Fig. 7 - Magellan). Rainfall is
heavy and persistent. To the west, hundreds of miles of sheltered, interlacing waterways are lined at sea level with sombre rain forest, grading
below 48'5 to sodden peat moorland with scattered beech trees (Godley,
1960, p. 466). East of the cordillera lie extensive pampas plains terminating in low sea cliffs or marshy foreshore. Magellanic penguins breed
abundantly in both habitats, laying two eggs late in October. Between
April and September they are absent from the breeding grounds. King
penguins, once plentiful in the Magellanic area (Murphy, 1936, p. 3 4 6
345) are not known to breed there at present.
Staten Island and nearby islets off the eastern tip of Tierra del Fuego
may be the only surviving South American breeding station of King
penguins, Gentoos and Rockhoppers, although Murphy's description of
the island (1936, p. 235) as "heavily wooded" and quoted passage from
de Agostini ('(. . . a chaos of rugged rocks and peaks, almost without
level terrain and with scarcely a shelving strand. . .") suggest that none
of the three species would be comfortably at home.
Patagonia. Dry westerly winds warm the temperate pampas coasts
and give rise to offshore upwelling. The Falkland current, a diversion of
the West Wind Drift, carries cold water northward to provide rich feeding grounds for birds. Sea and air temperatures have marked seasonal
variation (Fig. 7 - Valdez Peninsula) and the climate is changeable
and unstable. Magellanic penguins breed seasonally from October and
November, mostly but not entirely in burrows on the mainland and
offshore guano islands, from the Gulf of San Matias southward. They
migrate northward from the breeding grounds between April and
September, thus avoiding at least part of the seasonal shift of isotherms
(p. 161).
b . South Africa
Between Saldanha Bay (33"s) and Cape Frio (18"s) inshore waters
are dominated by the Benguela current, which begins as a north-eastward diversion of the West Wind Drift and gains its biological wealth