numerous specimens from all the above-mentioned coiintries'; still I do not fail to notice that certain
constant differences exist in the plumage o f the Iceland, Greenland, and American birds ; but I am not called
upon to comment upon them here, since I am not writing a history of the family, but only o f that one of its
members to which the synonyms above given pertain.
A certain degree of altitude appears to be necessary to the existence of this species; yet it is remarkable
that it never departs from the law which limits the Grouse family to certain high degrees of latitude. Why
it should not be found on the snow-capped Himalayas, the Mountains o f the Moon, or the regions
of the Andes is not for me to explain.
“ I have frequently chased it,” says Macgillivray, “ on Ronaval and other mountains in Harris ; and it is
said to occur on Eachala in South Uist, on the Park and Uig hills in Lewis, on the Cuillin a n d ' Strath
mountains in Syke, as well as in Mull and Ju ra. On all the elevated summits o f the north of Scotland it
is not uncommon; .and on most o f 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-
fragments o f rock, from which it is very difficult to distinguish them when they remain motionless, as they
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 o f them may not be ten yards d ista n t;
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 o f a stone, ready to spring off
the moment you show an indication o f 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.
“ It is delightful to wander far away from the haunts and even the solitary huts of men, and, ascending
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
o f nature cannot fail to look up to nature’s God. I believe it, in fact, impossible in such a situation, on the
height o f Ben-na-muic-dui or Ben Nevis, for example, not to be sensible, not merely o f the existence, but
also of the presence o f 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 unholy thought. But
to know himself one must go there alone. Accompanied by his fellow’s, he may see all o f external nature
that he could see in solitude, but the hidden things o f his own heart w’ill not be brought to light. To me
the ascent o f a lofty mountain has always induced a frame o f 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 o f 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 o f 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.
“ Early in spriug 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 o f a regular oval form, about an inch and seven
twelfths in length, an inch and from one to two twelfths across, o f a white, yellowish-white, or reddish
colour, blotched aud spotted with dark brown, the markings larger than those of the Red Grouse. The
young run about immediately after leaving the shell, and from the commencement are so nimble and expert
at concealing themselves th at a person who has accidentally fallen in with a flock very seldom succeeds in
capturing one. On the summit of one of the Harris mountains I once happened to stroll into the midst o f a
covey o f very young Ptarmigans, which instantly scattered, and in a few seconds disappeared among the
stones, while the mother ran about within a few yards of me, manifesting the most intense anxiety, and
pretending to be unable to fly. She succeeded so well in drawing my attention to herself that when I at
length began to search for the young, not one o f them could be found, although the place was so bare that
one might have supposed it impossible for them to escape detection. I t seems wonderful, after all, how.a
a young bird, such as a Lapwing or Snipe, sitting motionless on the ground (which it always does, unless it
thinks it has been observed), should generally elude the most diligent search.”
The singular changes to which this bird is subject, and the little th at is understood respecting the dress
it bears a t different seasons, have induced me to give three illustrations of the bird—in winter, summer, and
autumn; and I am sure it will be admitted that, with less, the subject could not be rendered intelligible.
Mr. Wolf has taken the utmost pains with these figures, and accompanied each with appropriate scenery.
It will be seen, then, that the birds change their dress almost as frequently as the aspects of nature on the