364 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



it eats mosses and lichens as well as berry-bearing, low- 

 growing plants and dwarf willows. In autumn, sometimes 

 early, the birds pack, and in winter usually descend to a lower 

 zone, but like the Red Grouse it will at times seek food by 

 burrowing in the snow. The packs break up in spring, but the 

 nest, an unlined or scantily lined hollow, is not scratched until 

 May. The seven to ten eggs (Plate 154) are not unlike pale 

 eggs of the Red Grouse, and are often laid in June. Young in 

 down are rather darker than those of the last species, especially 

 on the head. They fly at a very early age, and are carefully 

 guarded and boldly defended by their parents. The hen, and 

 sometimes the cock, will feign lameness to attract attention, 

 and the latter will attack a dog, and it is said a man, if the 

 young are threatened. 



The Ptarmigan has three moults. In nuptial dress, worn 

 from about April to July, the male is barred on the upper parts 

 with brown, grey, and buff ; the under parts below the breast 

 are mostly white. Black, white-tipped outer tail feathers, and 

 white, black-shafted quills are constant in all phases. The 

 more tawny female has black barring. From August until 

 about October the upper parts are grey, vermiculated with 

 black, and the female is rather browner. In winter the dress 

 of both sexes is white, except for the black on the tail and 

 quill shafts ; the lores and a streak through the eye are black 

 in the male and very old females. In the imported Willow 

 Grouse, which is sold as Ptarmigan in winter, there is no black 

 on the lores. Above the eye of both sexes there is a scarlet 

 comb, more pronounced, however, in the male bird ; the bill is 

 black, and the irides brown. Until the first autumn moult the 

 primaries of young birds are brownish. Length, 14-5 ins. 

 Wing, 7'6 ins. Tarsus, 1*5 ins. 



