: eee efi pot fail to notice that certain
erous specimens from all the above-mentioned countries ; still I do - ce boc Lan one
numer Ss Ss 1 : | A orican ds ; U am n alle
i els fa anc merice 9
constant differences exist in the plumage of the Iceland, Greenland, < he family. but only of chat CORE
: : “> 4 histor aml c C
upon to comment upon them here, since I am not writing a history of the family, Mi
ee oe ms above given pertain. é : a
members to which the synony § ‘ I essary to the existence of this species 5 yet 1t 1s remarkable
. alee sars to be necessar
A certain degree of altitude appears ) : Se icon ee dag
: hich limits the Grouse family to certain high degrees of latitude. Why
Moon, or the regions

 

 

that it never departs from the law w
imalayas of the
it should not be found on the snow-capped Himalayas, the Mountains

 

of the Andes is not for me to explain. oie ae we
“T have frequently chased it,” says Macgillivray, ‘‘ on Ronaval and other mountains in Harris; and it is
c 5 y wn Cc a Z rm O oe x say: G 3
id t ir on Eachala in South Uist, on the Park and Uig hills in Lewis, on the Cuillin and Strath
said to occur Gachale ,

mountains in Skye, as well as in Mull and Jura. On all the elevated summits of the north of Scotland it

is not uncommon : and on most of those of the Grampians, but especially the great granitic and slaty masses
from which issue the sources of the Dee, the Spey, and the Tay, it may be said to be even abundant. Great
numbers are annually killed ; but as its haunts are not so easily accessible as those of the Red Grouse, it is

 

not at all likely to be exterminated.
‘While feeding, these beautiful birds run and walk among the weather-beaten and_ lichen-crusted
elk shich it is very di istinguls n when they remain motionless, as the

fragments of rock, from which it is very difficult to distinguish ther y : y

invariably do should a person be in sight. Indeed, unless you are directed to a particular spot by their

strange low croaking cry, which seems to me very much like that of a frog, you may pass through a flock
of Ptarmigans without observing a single individual, although some of them may not be ten yards distant ;

 

 

 

when squatted, however, they utter no sound, their object being to conceal themselves ; and if you do discover
the one from which the cry has proceeded, you generally find him on the top of a stone, ready to spring off
the moment you show an indication of hostility. If you throw a stone at him, he rises, utters his call, and
is immediately joined by all the individuals around, which you see spring up one by one from the bare ground.
They generally fly off in a loose body, with a direct and moderately rapid flight, and settle on a distant part
of the mountain, or betake themselves to one of the neighbouring summits, perhaps more than a mile
distant.

“Tt is delightful to wander far away from the hauuts and even the solitary huts of men, and,as cending
the steep mountain, seat one’s self on the ruinous cairn that crowns its summit, where, amid the grey stones,
the Ptarmigan gleans its alpine food. There, communing with his own heart in the wilderness, the lover
of nature cannot fail to look up to nature’s God. I believe it, in fact, impossible in such a situation, on the

 

height of Ben-na-muic-dui or Ben Nevis, for example, not to be sensible, not merely of the existence, but
also of the presence of a Divinity. In that sacred temple, of which the everlasting hills are the pillars, and
the blue vault of heaven the dome, he must be a fiend indeed who could harbour an unboly thought. But
to know himself one must go there alone. Accompanied by his fellows, he may see all of external nature

 

that he could see in solitude, but the hidden things of his own heart will not be brought to light. To me

 

the ascent of a lofty mountain has always induced a frame of mind similar to that inspired by entering a
temple ; and I cannot but look upon it as a gross profanation to enact amidst the sublimities of creation a

convivial scene, such as is usually got up by parties from our large towns, who seem to have no higher aim

 

in climbing to the top of Ben Lomond or Ben Ledi than to feast there upon cold chicken and ‘ mountain
dew,’ and toss as many stones as they can find over the precipices.
6c eas F ea > Ee eae . ne Enis a ¢ : fe 9
Early in spring the Ptarmigans separate and pair. The nest is a slight hollow, scantily strewn with a
few twigs and stalks or blades of grass. The eggs are of a regular oval form, about an inch and seven
twelfths in length, an inch and from one to two twelfths across, of a white, yellowish-white, or reddish
9
colour, blotched and spotted wi ark br arki areer
; ( and Sspotte d with dark brown, the mar kings larger than those of the Red Grouse. The
young run about immediately after leaving the shell, and from the commencement
at concealing themselves that a person who has accidentally fallen in with a flock

 

 

 

 

are so nimble and expert

| ; very seldom succeeds in
capturing one. On the summit of one of the Harris mountains I once happened to

70 7er , erates ; thi "7 Q
covey of very young Ptarmigans, which instantly scattered, and in
stones, while the mother ran about within a few yards of me

Py ‘ >

stroll into the midst of a
a few seconds disappeared among the
manifesting the se i
yretending to be unable to fly. She succe . en § the most intense anne ye
| ; a g e y- 1e succeeded so well in drawing my attention to herself that when I at
ength began to search for the , . me va

gth beg: e or the young, not one of them could be found, although the place was so bare that
one might have supposed it impossible for them to escape detecti I
Re eeu: oe one eal ton. 4t seems wonderful, after all, how a
young bird, such as a Lapwing or Snipe, sitting motionless on the ground (wh; alien i
thinks it has been observed), should generally ¢ ee Rae ee ee

Lali » should genera ly elude the most diligent search.”
rt de singular changes to which this bird is subject, and the little that is
it bears at different sez re] , i ;

ars ¢ erent se fs0u8, have induced me to give three illustr
autumn; and I am sure it will be admitted that, w
’

understood respecting the dress
ations of the bird—in Winter, summer, and

ith less, the subjec
os Pca : S, ject could not be rey itellenhlcn
Mr. Wolf has taken the utmost pains with these figures, and accompanied e dered intelligible

sei ee : : ach with appropriate scenery.
It will be seen, then, that the birds change their dress almost Oe y

as frequently as the aspects of nature on the