Penguins

There are eighteen different kinds of penguins, and they all live south of the equator. The largest are the emperor penguins, which live in Antarctica. They lay their eggs about fifty miles from the coast. There the penguins have nothing to make a nest out of, but the eggs cannot be laid directly on the ice, or they would freeze. The emperor penguins have to take care of their eggs in a special way.

The female produces one egg. As soon as she lays her egg, the male penguin rolls it on top of his feet. A special fold of skin on the bottom of his stomach comes down over the egg to protect it from the cold. For two months the male penguins stand together to protect themselves from the cold with their eggs on their feet. They cannot move or eat.

The female goes to find food as soon as she lay her egg. Finally, after two months she returns and takes the eggs from the male. The male penguin, which now has had no food for two months, return to the sea.

After the egg is hatched, the female and the male take turns carrying the baby penguin on their feet. When the weather gets cold, the baby is covered by the fold of skin, which keeps it warm.