Cock and Ptarmigan, neither o f xyhich possesses greater power* w river » ■ i. pa,
its snore northern latitudes. Wide and open moors and, heath#, psgtth’pkirivtfweih are /•-•
sweUipg kills and undulations, are the situations to which the ffcw* Cronse gif?« pwfrreim. i*
commences the task o f incubation very early in the spring, the female laying m M-vi'-h ApriiK The v
keep in the company o f their parents until th.e autumn, when the various broods nsaeicltfc
large flocks*,called packs)b'y the sportsman, which continue associated till the spring, « km , a <j|f| h .
the great law of nature, each selects its mate, and they then disperse over the moorlands to commt
jits food consists o f the tender .tops o f the heath, and the fruit o f the. bilberry, eimhvrrv, and vai
■plants of the genus Arbutus ■ they also, readily eat oats and other grain, hence those farmers whose 1
adjoin- heathy districts often sutler very considerably from their visits., - Their flight is rapid, and is t
sustained for a considerable distance, particularly after being harassed during the early part o f the shot
" season, which commences with these line bin’s on the first of August.
They constraint,.-little or do r n t , the eggs, which are from eight to twelve in number, of •> reddish
blotched all over ivhh dark brown, being deposited in a shallow cavity lined with a few loose yra
generally placed in a tuft o f heath.
l i e sexes may be u t o t i i u i s l i b y ibi- biaIc being darker hi colour and by his having the wd i mkt il
over the eye larger and o f a more inteiise «oWr thtio in ‘.Ik- female.
The whole o f the plumage is of a rich chestnut fcw*wn marked .with „fine undulating bar* o f black, at:d .
irregularly blotched with white; the belly and veut-feoilverri white; bid black,' with the ex«epitKm,of the
middle feathers, which are ash brown barred with^^aifk.; tarsi and Softs clothed with gtevj.sb white dc
feathers; naked .«kin over the eye ¡red; irides hazel ; bill aert il.;. bfedk.
The Hate represents a male and .rents!.- of die natural si:»*