In modern Russian, pingvin only refers to Antarctic penguins, and it seems to be predominant usage in Gorky's time as well. However, Gorky's era Dal's Dictionary defines pingvin simply as a "Sea bird, chistik, [which] flies poorly and walks erect" (Морская птица, чистик, плохо летает и ходит стойком), without identifying it more precisely. The term chistik is not defined in Dal's dictionary, but appears to apply to a number of seabirds, including, indeed, to the great auk (which is called "Atlantic chistik in a Russian's translation of Brehms Tierleben: Жизнь животных). A Russian geography textbook from 1887, too, would use the word pingvin to refer to Alca torda (razorbill) of Russia's Arctic coast. Географія Россійской Имперіи: (курс средних учебних заведеній), p. 54.
In modern Russian, pingvin only refers to Antarctic penguins, and it seems to be predominant usage in Gorky's time as well. However, Gorky's era Dal's Dictionary defines pingvin simply as a "Sea bird, chistik, [which] flies poorly and walks erect" (Морская птица, чистик, плохо летает и ходит стойком), without identifying it more precisely. The term chistik is not defined in Dal's dictionary, but appears to apply to a number of seabirds, including, indeed, to the great auk (which is called "Atlantic chistik in a Russian's translation of Brehms Tierleben: Жизнь животных). A Russian geography textbook from 1887, too, would use the word pingvin to refer to Alca torda (razorbill) of Russia's Arctic coast. Географія Россійской Имперіи: (курс средних учебних заведеній), p. 54.
