numerous specimens from all the above-mentioned countries; still 1 do not ;/ il to notice that certain
constant differences exist in the plumage o f the Iceland, Greenland, and American bird* , 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 o f this />pecies; yet it h remarkable
that it never departs from the law which limits the Grouse family to certain high degrees o f latitude. Why
it should not be found on the snow-capped Himalayas, the Mountains o f the Moon, or the regions
o f 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 Ui'st, on the Park and Uig hills in Lewis, on the Cuillin and Strath
mountains in Syke, as well as in Mull and Ju ra. On all the elevated summits o f the north o f Scotland it
is not uncommon; .and on most o f those o f the Grampians, but especially th f 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 o f the Red Grouse, it is
not a t all likely to be exterminated.
“ While feeding, these beautiful birds run and walk among the weather-beaten and lichen-crusted
fragments of rock, from which it is very difficult to distinguish them whkn they remain motionless, as they
invariably do should a person be in sight. Indeed, unless you are diifected to a particular spot by their
strange low croaking cry, which seems to me very much like th at of a frog, vou may pass through a flock
o f Ptarmigans without observing a single individual, although some of It hem 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 o f 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 spe|9g up one by one from the bare ground.
They generally fly off in a loose body, with a direct and moderately rapid fefhfc, and settle on a distant part
o f the mountain, or betake themselves to one o f the neighbouring su/gjgyts, perhaps more than a mile
distant. ' I ^
“ It is delightful to wander far away from the haunts and even the s</litary huts o f men, and, ascending
the steep mountain, seat one’s self on the ruinous cairn that crowns its s/immit, 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 swell» a situation, on the
height o f Ben-na-muic-dui o r Ben Nevis, for example, not to be sensible, not merely o f the existence, but
also of the presence of a Divinity. In that sacred temple, o f which the'everlasting hjlls tare the pillars, and
the blue vault of heaven the dome, he must he a fiend indeed who could harbour an (unholy thought. But
to know himself one must go there alone. Accompanied by his fellows, he may seel all o f external nature
that he could see in solitudev hut the-hidden things o f his own heart will not be bwmgitt to light. To me
the ascent o f a lofty mountain has! always induced a frame o f mawi srj.-ik; to tfcnt W iir e d by entering a
temple; and I cannot but look upon i t as a gross profanation to enari amidst the .««Niinities o f creation a
convivial scene, such as is usually got up by parties from our large towns, who sceta to have no higher aim
in climbing to the top o f Ben Lomond or Ben Led» than to feast there upon cold chicken and * mountain
dew,’ and toss as many stones as they can find over the precipices.
V Early in spring the Ptarmigans separate and pair. The nest is a slight hollow, scantily strewn with a
few twigs and stalks o r blades o f 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, o r reddish
colour, blotched and spotted with dark brown, the markings larger than those o f the Red Grouse. ’ The
young run about immediately after leaving the shell, and from the commencement we so nimble and expert
at concealing themselves that a person who has accidentally fallen in with a flock very seldom succeeds in
capturing one. On the summit o f one o f the Harris mountains I once happened to st; into the midst o f a
covey of very young Ptarmigans, which instantly scattered, and in a few seconds disappeared ¿unotjg the
stones, while the mother ran about within a few yards of me, manifesting the mosl ¿»tense anxiety, and
pretending to be nnable to fly. She succeeded so well in. drawing my attention to icerself' th at when I at
length began to search for the young, n o t one o f them could be found, although the .&tce was so bare that
one might have supposed it impossible for them to escape detection. It seems wonderful, after ,,.ll how .a
a young bird, such as a Lapwing or Snipe, sitting motionless on the ground (which it -¿iwttys doe*, 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 that is understotw respecting the dress
it bears a t different seasons, have induced me to give three illustrations o f the bird— in winter, summer, and
autumn; and I am sure it will be admitted that, with Jess, the subject could not be rendered intelligible.
Mr. Wolf has taken the utmost pains with these figures, and accompanied each with appropriate scenery.
I t will be seen, then, that the birds change their dress almost as frequently as the aspects o f nature on the
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