682 



APPENDIX. 



[No. V. 



described, compared it with the European Ptarmigan, and has widely erred in con- 

 cluding them to be identical. The White Grouse, in its summer plumage, was consi- 

 dered by M. Temminck to be the Red Grouse of Great Britain and Ireland ; he has, 

 however, retracted this opinion in the Second Edition of his Manuel. The T. 

 Scoticus, or Red Grouse, never changes its colour in winter, though it may accidentally 

 vary to white, and is solely ^confined to the British Islands, existing no where 

 else as a native inhabitant, whilst the T. Albus is not found in them. 



Tetrao Lagopus. Ptarmigan. 



The Ptarmigan and Rock Grouse (T. Rupestris) were until lately, described generally 

 as the same bird ; indeed it may be said by every writer, because though Pennant has 

 introduced the latter into his Arctic Zoology, he was certainly unacquainted with its 

 characteristics, and only noticed it because a bird with that name had been mentioned 

 by Hearne. In describing the birds seen during Captain Parry's late voyage to the 

 Polar Seas, Captain Sabine has distinguished the Rock Grouse from the Ptarmigan 

 as a distinct species ; his reasons for this separation, and the characters of each 

 species, will be found in detail in his Appendix to the narrative of the Voyage. The 

 Ptarmigan has been found on the land situated between Davis' Straits and Regent's 

 Inlet : the Rock Grouse, was abundant at Melville Island, and had also been killed in 

 Greenland in the former Voyage ; the Ptarmigan corresponded with the birds usually 

 so called in the British Islands, and the Rock Grouse are the same as birds which have 

 since been abundantly sent by Mr. Andrew Knight, from Norway ; where they are 

 considered as Ptarmigans. It is of importance to ascertain from actual examination 

 of specimens, now that these birds are distinguished, in what countries they each are 

 native. In Scotland and the adjacent Islands, the Ptarmigan alone exist ; whether it 

 is to be found in Norway and the mountainous countries of the north of Europe, yet 

 remains to be determined. The specimen now under notice, which was obtained in 

 the neighbourhood of York Factory, proves that the Ptarmigan is a native of that 

 part of America ; but as no specimen of the Rock Grouse has yet come under obser- 

 vation from the same quarter, it still remains uncertain whether individuals of the 

 smaller species go so far south ; when they leave the Islands of the Polar Seas, they of 

 course retire to the contiguous continent, but to what part of it, is yet to be ascer- 

 tained. Hearne's account of the Rock Grouse will apply as well to the T. Lagopus 

 as to the T. Rupestris ; and as he mentions only one kind, it is possible that the real 

 Rock Grouse may not come to Hudson's Bay. If this be the case, the specific name 

 now given to it has been wrong applied, for the T. Rupestris of Gmelin is founded 

 solely on Pennant's Arctic Zoology, and that is derived from Hearne. The specimen 

 which has been observed on here, is in its summer dress, and corresponds nearly, both 

 in size and colour of plumage, with those from Scotland killed at the same season. 



