Susan Herz, age 16, of Lowell, Ind., for her question.

HOW MANY EGGS DOES A PENGUIN LAY?

A female emperor penguin leaves the ocean at the start of an Antarctic autumn and lays a single egg on bare ice, and immediately returns

to the water. The male takes over the job of keeping the egg warm until it hatches. He rolls the egg onto his feet and covers it withthe lower part of his belly, which has several rolls of fat.

For two months, during the worst part of winter, the males of the colony huddle together, keeping themselves and their eggs warm.  They do not eat during this period.

As soon as the eggs hatch, the females come back to the colony `'to take care of the young.

Most other types of female penguins lay from one to three eggs, with two the most frequent number. The birds huddle together in a group called a rookery which may contain as many as a million birds.