112 



The Scottish Naturalist. 

 NOTES ON THE TETRAONIDJE OF PERTHSHIRE. 



BY ROBERT PATON. 



THE PTARMIGAN ( Tetrao albus) 



TS only met with on the higher mountain ranges, where it 

 dwells amongst the grey rocks and all but perpetual 

 snow of our highest hills. It is no child's play to reach its 

 favourite ground, and quite as hard work to find it after one is 

 there. It pairs very early in the spring, nesting on the bare 

 ground.* 



During summer ptarmigan are of a uniform grey, but during 

 severe winters they become almost pure white, excepting the 

 tail feathers proper, which remain black. Generally speaking, 

 they cast their feathers, receiving a new coat for the season, 

 either white or grey, as the case may be ; still I do not think 

 they cast all their feathers, as I find them sometimes partly 

 white and partly grey, causing me to think that, to a certain 

 extent, they change their colour without entirely changing their 

 feathers. The ptarmigan is somewhat smaller than the red 

 or common grouse, its length being about 14 or 15 inches, 

 stretch of wings 20 to 22 inches, and weight 1 lb. 2 oz. to 1 lb. 

 4 oz. 



* That it is not the invariable habit of the ptarmigan to nest on the bare ground 

 I have reason to believe, having found a nest on Ben Muick Dhu, during the past 

 summer. This nest was at an altitude of about 4200 feet, and was placed among 

 some coarse grass and sedge, close to a patch of snow. It was rudely constructed, 

 the materials being the leaves of some sedge (probably Carex rigida), mixed 

 with pieces of that common mountain lichen, Cetraria islandica. The nest 

 contained four fresh eggs, and the bird sat very close. Possibly this may have 

 been a second nesting, as a few days previously (the time was towards the end of 

 June), I saw a ptarmigan with a brood of young birds on a hill near Lochnagar. 

 This bird displayed far more solicitude for the safety of her young than any other 

 bird I have seen, running along in an apparently disabled state not more than 

 a yard from us, in fact, so near at times, that I believe I might easily have put my 

 entomological net over her, if I had been so disposed. After accompanying us for 

 about fifty yards, she flew off, doubtless congratulating herself on her cleverness. 

 I have never seen ptarmigan at a less altitude, I think, then about 3000 feet. 

 When flushed, they rise with a low hoarse croak, very different from the loud 

 cry of the red grouse. Often, however, they give no cry at all, and hence have 

 been termed the mute grouse. Though generally associated in very small 

 flocks or coveys, I saw a large flock of at least fifty individuals one day early 

 last August.— Editor. 



