672 



GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



Hudson's Bay, where they probably breed ; and in Nova 

 Scotia, from their favorite fare, are known by the name 

 of Birch Partridges. Occasionally, no doubt, they visit 

 the hilly confines of the state of Maine. 



They feed on many sorts of berries, particularly the 

 crow-berry (Empetrum nigrum) and cow-berry ( Vaccinium 

 Vitis IdcEo), as well as the tops of the same plant ; they 

 also collect catkins, buds, and the young shoots of the 

 pine, heath, rose-hips, and sometimes the different kinds 

 of lichens, which they search out in the extensive burrows 

 they make beneath the snow. To all this bill of frugal 

 fare, the Ptarmigan also sometimes adds a few insects. 

 They search out their food chiefly in the morning and 

 evening, and in the middle of the day are observed some- 

 times to bask in the sun. Like the Esquimaux of the 

 human family, whose lot is cast in the same cold and dreary 

 region, they seek protection from the extreme sever- 

 ity of the climate by dwelling in the snow ; it is here that 

 they commonly roost and work out subterraneous paths. In 

 the morning as soon as they leave their frozen dens, they 

 fly out vigorously into the air in an upward direction, 

 shaking the snow from their warm and white clothing. 

 While thus feeding they socially call on one another at in- 

 tervals, in a loud tone, and sometimes utter a sort of 

 cackling cry, almost like a coarse and mocking laugh. 



The nest, about the middle of June, is made in open 

 places where moss abounds, or in the shelter of the low, 

 creeping bushes, forming the only woody growth of these 

 naked and sterile regions. The eggs, 1 to 15, are oblong, of 

 a rufous yellow, from the great number of large and small 

 spots of black or of reddish black with which they are cov- 

 ered. From the lincrering attachment of the male to his 

 mate when killed, it is probable that the species may be 

 monogamous, or even constantly mated. After the young 



