others w'itli irmiiy bine autumn feathci-s. Up to July Dth I observed th a t all the old males wliich I killed were dark broiviiish-black on tho back,
speckled with lighter brown, cspccliilly on the head, breast, and sides; belly, pure white, but the dark breast is much more couspicuons iu some
than in otiici's. I(y July 20tli the whole body-color had become lighter, and by the end of July was evidently ehanging'to bluc-gi;uy, but still
speckled with brown, especially on the head. By the Gtli of August the majority of the males had assumed a totally different dress : head still
sjiecklcil with ycllowish-browii ; back, blnish-gray, watered with black and white ; belly, pure white ; and this was the plumage of the males oii
August 18th, ivhcn I killed my last. This blue-watcrcd dress iipjicars by degrees to become fainter, in fact mere gray-blue, until tho end of
Scptciiibcr ; but tlic white w inter foathcrs keep gvadiially showing themselves nmlcr the bine antuimial dross, I observed in two siiccimciis shot
early in October the year before, th a t one was half blue ami half white, i. e., that half the body appeared to be covered with tho blue antnmn
dress, the other half w ith the white winter plumage, some of which, if not all, wore perfectly new feathers, for I observed blood-sliatts to many
of them ; in the other specimen, very few of the blue autumn feathei-s remained. Fi oiii what I could hoar, for I did not stop np long cnongli
to judge for myself, I should say that iu many, perhaps most, the pure white winter dress is complete by the third week in October.
“ Much O.S the males vary in plumage, the females appear to vary still more, and only to have a standing dress for about tlircc weeks in Jniic,
jii.st when they arc laying, am! this early siimmcr lirc.-'s may be described thus : body, blackish-brown, cvciy feather broailly edged with yellow, brown,
niul ivhite, giving the bird a very light ycllow-hrowii appoaraiice ; breast, much lighter ; belly, never pure white, as in tho male, but, as well as tho
sides and breast, covered with black zig-zag lines on a rusty ycllo'v and white ground, the white color most apparent on the beliy. By the
Rccoiul w'cek in June this dress was eomjilctc in most, although the birds vary much in shading, scarcely two being c.vactly alike, when it all at
once became much darker. In fact, w'c may describe the siimmor dress of the female Pfaruiigan thus: thvoughont the whole of Jlay tho ground
plumage ivas white, here and there speckled ivith mottled rusty yellow and black feathci-s, wliicli, as in the males, appear first on the head and
neck, then on tho back. By the third week in May tho body is thickly speckled with tlioso mottled feathci-s (some iiitci-minglcd with tho white,
others shooting out from the skin under them), so wc are not a t all surprised that early in Juno a sudden change takes place, and all a t oiico tho
bii'd assumes its early or fii-st suiniiicr dress, as above described. About the end of July wc sec sonic small blue featlicrs shooting out among
tlio rusty brown ones, and this a]ipears to be a true monk, and not a cliaiigo in color of the feathers. The bird now- assumes a beautiful ilress,
far more liaiuUome tlian the male—bi'own-rcd, variegated w-itli blue-gray, which often on the back appcai-s in patcbcs. But the females vary
so uiuoli in color that a minuto description of one w ould not apply to another. I fancy th a t both male and female retain this bine dress longer
than any other. It gradually boeoincs lighter as the season ailvaiices, till a t length the old female is quite blue (hut still alw ays with some rusty
mottled yellow- foathci-s at tho sides), and about tlic middle of October the bine dress gives place to the pure white plmnagc of winter.
" The plumage of tho young in the downy state is rusty yellow, with iongitudinal markings and minute spots of black ; the first dress after
that is black, mottled with rusty yellow and white above ; imderncath, paio rusty brown with blackish wavy lines ; wings, grayish-brown. Eai-iy
in August tlie body plumage becomes grayish-blue, finely streaked with black, and the pinions white instead of brown. This gray plumage
gi-adnally bceonics lighter, as in tlie old birds, till, like them, they assume their winter livery, and by the first of November there is no pcvcoptibic
diifercncc between old and yonng birds.
“ It appears, then, that the Swedish Ptarmigan has three distinct dresses in the coui-se of the year, and so many intermediate changes that
they appear to have a diffci-ont dress for every siimmcr month.
“ The Ptarmigan may truly be .-laid to bo a cliild of snow, for yon never meet with them off the real fells, althongh I have occasionally flushed
them from the fell-sidcs, just where the willow buslics end. Tlieir real home is the higher fell-tract, and in tho middle of summer on tlioir very
liiglicst snow-clad summits. In tho spring they conic down to the lower fells to breed, but you never find them there in the end of snmiiici'.
The pairing season lici-c aiipcavcd to begin early in May, and lasted a fortnight or three w'coks, and dnriiig this time the hoarse laughing love-
call of the old male might be hoard at very earliest dawn on any of the fell-tops. This is soon answered by the iincr ‘ i- i—ack ; i- i—ack,’ of
the female, and the lovc-cliasc conmioiiccs. This is tho time when many are shot off, for they arc now too engrossed with each other to heed
the shooter, ivho lies behind a stone on the pairing gi-onnd, and picks them off as he ¡ileascs.
-‘Both the Ptarmigan and tho IVillow Grouse arc strictly monogamons. Some natnralists appear to have an idea th a t both, when pairing,
have a kind of ‘lek,’ or ¡ilay, like tho oapcrcailzic and black cock, both of which birds are poiygamous, I can only say I never saw anything of
the kind. The Ptarmigan certainly have tlioir fai oritc pairing grounds on the fells, and here the birds assemble at daylight in the early spring, in
small flocks, but widely scattered all over the place. Tlie old males utter their peculiar love-call, which is aii.sw orcd by the female, and they draw
together; but although there arc several males in the iieigliborhood, each one seems to have Ids ¡laiticular stand and his own favorite female,
and if by chance another iiialc intrudes on liis ground, lie drives it off.
“ Early in June the female commences to lay, forming an artless nest on the bare stones in the heather, or under a small bush; always, as
far as I could sec, above the very top edge o f the willow- region, but never on the snow-fells. As long as the female coiitiuncs to sit, tho old male
watcliosin the vicinity of the nest, like tlie Willow- Grouse; but as soon as tlio yonng are hatched off ho leaves them to the caro of the inother,
and joining a lot more 'bachelor fi-iciids,' they seek the tops of the highest fells (leaving the female and youiig brood lower down in the foil
valleys). Early in August the young will be strong flyers; the old female tlicn takes them higher upon the fells ; they are joined again by the
old male, and the whole family keep together till the antnmn snow falls, when several families pack, and large flocks arc met w'itli in the lower
feil-tracts during tho whole winter.
“ In the summer the food of the Ptarmigan scoiiis to consist entirely of leaves, flow-oi-s, and frnit of the fell-shrubs. The yonng live much on
insects, and in the winter tho frozen fruit of the crowben-y and cranberry afford them ample supply of food, anil tlicre are alwaj-s bare places,
even on the liighcst fells, from which the wind has blown the snow."
Some authors have slated that they have met with this species in Arctic .America, and that the spociinciis they obtained differed in no way
from the Ptarinigan of Scotland. In tlie collections sent to the Smithsonian Institution, obtained in the iiortlicrn portions of the American
continent, I have never scon any specimens of the Lagopns Mutns, the only species of Ptarmigan represented being the Lagopns Albns, and
Lagopns Kupcsti-is; consequently, I am strongly inclined to the belief that the common Ptarmigan of Europe is not found in, the New- World,
but is represented by the Rock Grouse.
I have fonnd it necessary to give two plates of this species, in order to show the change of plumage the bird undergoes. Tho first represents
adults and yonng iu summer; the male in the back-ground already beginning to assume the full style of coloring. I have observed this change
to occur in individuals quite early in tlic summer. Tlie other )>lato represents the birds in their -ivintcr dress. All the figures arc of the natural
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