GREY PTARMIGAN. 199 



now, having reached the head of this long dull valley, I be- 

 held straight before me the great mountain which had attracted 

 my attention the day before, and to ascend which was the 

 object of my present excursion. Crossing a small stream, by 

 which grew in abundance Gnaphalium supinum, Galium saxa- 

 tile, and the beautiful though very common Digitalis purpurea, 

 I sat down to consider what might be the best route, and 

 reconnoitre the face of the huge rounded mass, which I divided 

 into three portions : — first, a plain or platform, rising gently at 

 the farther end, and forming a pretty steep acclivity, terminat- 

 ing about a third up ; secondly, the middle part, consisting of 

 fragments of rock, stones, and gravel, intermixed with a little 

 vegetation ; thirdly, the remaining part, three or four hundred 

 feet high, similar to the last, but more sterile. If one traces 

 his proposed route in this manner, he finds it in general easy 

 enough to ascend a hill without a guide, whereas if he pro- 

 ceeds at random, he is very liable to become involved among 

 diflaculties. Hitherto the sky had been clear, but now clouds 

 began to gather around the summits of the mountains, although 

 that before me was still unshrouded. As I ascended, I saw to 

 the west the remains of a natural forest of pine, scattered along 

 the sides of a valley, and on entering the second region, found 

 the heath and other plants greatly diminished in size, while 

 A'arious species occurred that indicated an approach to what in 

 botany is called an alpine station. Near the summit of a pro- 

 jecting mass of rock, in this region, I sat down among the 

 crumbling blocks of granite to compare the Aira flexuosa, 

 which grew in tufts, with its characters in Smith's Compen- 

 dium ; and when I rose, a large covey of Ptarmigans sprung 

 from among the stones about a hundred and fifty yards beneath 

 me. 



These beautiful birds while feeding, run and walk among the 

 weather-beaten and lichen-crusted fragments of rock, from which 

 it is very difl[icult to distinguish them when they remain motion- 

 less, as they invariably do should a person be in sight. Indeed, 

 unless you are directed to a particular spot by their strange low 

 croaking cry, which has been compared to the harsh scream of 

 the missel-thrush, but which seems to me much more like the 



