Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 9 November 1929, page 23


Possum's Letter

Mate Sees Penguins on Victor Harbor Islands

Dear Clubmates— Many Mates will remember the story of the capture of a penguin at the Grange a few weeks ago. This week I received another letter from a Mate telling me that other penguins have been seen around the South Australian coast. This letter is from Peggy Mengersen. She lives at Seafield avenue, Kingswood, and says that she has seen penguins on the shore at Victor Harbor and also on the neighboring islands. She adds that while spending a holiday at Victor Harbor one Christmas she saw a stray penguin wandering along the beach. Some friends of hers caught it, but they had to kill it, as the birds fret to death in captivity. Peggy also said that last year when she was at Victor Harbor she went for a sail in a yacht belonging to one of the residents of Encounter Bay. They sailed around to the other side of the Bluff, and as they passed West Island she saw flocks of penguins on the island sunning themselves on the rocks near the water. West Island is one of the many small islands which lie close to the coast of Encounter Bay. They are mainly composed of rocks and sand, and make ideal homes for the fairy (little) penguins which are found in Australian waters. This species breeds in great numbers on some of the islands off the southern coast of Australia. They may even be seen as far north- as Moreton Bay, Queensland, on the east coast, and the Swan River on the west. Antarctic penguins, however, are rarely seen along the Australian coast, because the climate is too warm. This is the first time that I have heard of penguins being found on the islands

around Victor Harbor, but these islands must be ideal homes for them. The rocks and sand of which the islands are mainly composed doubtless provide the birds with excellent nesting places. I was disappointed this week when I found that I had not any new Mates to enrol. This is the first time now for several months that such a thing has occurred. For several weeks now I have been enrolling on' an average 12 new Mates each week. You will recall that during the first six months of thi* year 246 new Mates were enrolled. I should like to see this figure increased in this half-year. This can be done if all Mates do their best. Try your hardest and see how many new Mates you can enrol between now and the end of the year. The open drawing contest which closed this week proved popular among Mates. On the whole the drawings were of a high standard. Excellent efforts reached me from Marjorie Fisher, Veda Aspinall, and Joyce Williams. They were so good that I was unable to pick the best. They are the best I have seen for some time. All three Mates haye been awarded special lilac honor certificates for their work. This week's competition will be an essay on 'What I would do if I had £5,000.' This is -an old competition,- but it is popular. Let. me have your best efforts. The closing date will be Monday, November 18.Good-night.' Good-night.' Clubmates.