WHITE GROUS, OR PTARMIGAN. 673 



are fully grown, and released from the care of their pa- 

 rents, they and the old are seen to assemble in flocks of 

 two or three hundred, about the beginning of October, 

 when they appear to migrate a little to the south in quest 

 of food, or rather from the mountains towards the plains. 

 At this time they are seen in great numbers round Hud- 

 son's Bay, where they assemble for subsistence; and, as 

 the store diminishes, they push their tardy migrations in 

 other directions for a fresh supply. Unsuspicious of the 

 wiles and appetites of man, the Ptarmigan appears often 

 as tame as a domestic chicken, more particularly when 

 the weather is mild ; they are allured even by crumbs of 

 bread, and on throwing a hat towards them, or any strange 

 object, they are so attracted by the appearance, as to 

 allow of an approach so near, that a noose may be thrown 

 round their necks, or, approached from behind, they may 

 be knocked down with poles. Sometimes, however, they 

 become wild enough to fly, but soon grow weary, and as 

 tame as usual. When about to fly off" to a distance from 

 the hunters, they are instantly brought to settle down by 

 imitating the cry of their enemy the Hawk. At times, 

 trusting to the concealment of their winter livery, they 

 will remain motionless upon the snow, from which they 

 are still distinguishable by their more dazzling whiteness. 

 They are much esteemed as food in every country where 

 they occur, and are commonly taken in nets, which are 

 merely made to fall over the place where they assemble, 

 or to which they are driven ; and so numerous are they 

 at Hudson's Bay, that 50 or 70 are sometimes obtained 

 at a single haul of a net about 20 feet square. Between 

 November and April, as many as 10,000 are taken for the 

 use of the settlement ,• and in Europe, during the winter, 

 they are carried in thousands to the market of Bergen 

 in Norway, and when half-roasted or jerked, are put into 



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