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 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 ’ calif and is immediately joined ’ by allthe
individuals around, which, to your surprise, if it he your
first rencontre, you see spring up one by one from the bare
ground. They generally fiy off in a loose body, with a
direct and moderately rapid flight, resembling, but lighter
than, that of ' the Red Grouse, and settle on a distant part
of the mountain, or betake themselves to one of the neighbouring
summits, perhaps more • than a mile distant.”
Their food-consists of fresh green dwigs of CallUna 'titilgaHs,
•Vacci/rtium myrtilhis, nigrum, and -other
plants with berries in autumn : for th e ! most part the same
as that of - the Red Grouse. Like that' species, they suffer
from disease in Scotland.
Ptarmigan are * only kept alive in captivity - with‘- :great
difficulty. Dr. A. Girtanner“ (Zoologische Gartenfv1880,
pp. 71-82)'-gives a long account of his repeated failures
with both old and young birds ; but at last-he succeeded by
placing - the latter*'with a captive Rock-Partridge*f((Sde’cabis
saxatilis),' by whose - example they learned to feed, and1 all
lived together in apparent contentment.
' An adulPmale shot ■ in Ross-shire on IBffli May has the
bill blackish-horn colour ; over the eve an erectile red skin;
the lores black; the head and -npek of a'mottled brown »with
some -new- black-centred feathers appearing;-On the -crown
and maritle;' back and upper tail-covert#- ochfeous-greyf'the
centre ones 'longer than !'the-:tail-feathers;' tail-feathers
blackish, tipped with'%hff;i$ ;* primary quill-feathers white, -
with dark shafts; secondaries and wing-coverts white;-with
^-.Specimens killed in; spring frequently have the. two long, central tail-coverts
of a pure white, the remainder of the^winter plumage ; and these might easily
be mistaken for the middle feathers .of the tail itself. . In autumn, these feathers
•hre renewed, and in immature birds' the central portions are lead-cofoure'd."
a few mottled brown feathers appearing; chin White; throat
mottled brown and white; breast dark mottled brown; flanks
yellowish-brown; abdomen and under tail-cOVerts white; legs
and feet greyish-white* In a Perthshire specimen, killed June
2nd, the short mottled feathers of thé. head shewed abraded
white tips with dark-bases; the larger feathers Of the neck
and breast had dark bases, followed by a bar of white edged
with buff, and terminating with black tips undergoing abrasion
; back mottled withiilack, grey, and buff. In ver§r öld
males, and especially in examples from Scandinavia, a much
larger proportion of" the feathers oh the upper parts and
breast are often of very dark colour.
The female, which is slightly smaller than the male, has
the head and upper parts of a rufous buff, broadly mottled
with black, and slightly tippéd with grey; the quill-feathers
white, with more dark markings about the shafts than in the
male; the tail-feathers blackish, but freckled with grey oh
the Outer web; especially in Pyrenean examples; breast and
flanks buff, mottled with black and grey; lower breast' and
belly mottled white'; under tail-coverts buff, barred with
black; under wing-coverts white*. I
The whole length of a 'mate is*fifteen inches. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing, eight inches : the first
quill-feather an inch and a half shorter than the second
the second rather longer than thé fifth; the third and
fourth nearly-equal in length, and the 'longest in the wing.
The wings of the old birds killed in autumn are seldom
peifect;'as this is the sfjason for moulting the flight-feathers.
Early in- autumn both males and-females moult into'
a freckled grey plumage-e-n»the- upper parts; thé" quill-
feathers, and some Jftthe wing-coverts^,with those on the
middle of the belly, being white^Jf^feé' end of October this
plumage changes to pure white in Continental specimens;
and to white with slight -inottlingS' abodC^tfie bases of the
feathers, in some ‘Sëotóh examples; the tail-feathers remaining
black, bjitt being jfefpy colncealed by; the -long white
cpyerts. The fur-like - feathers.^® %e legs ..‘and feet increase
in length and thickp.ess.,%- In this winter- plumage the
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