90 'lETltAONlD.i:. 



males have the lores hlack, whereas in the female the lores 

 are usually white ; but some old females shew a dark eye- 

 streak. This garb is retained until the following spring. 

 Macgillivray mentions two hen birds from Banffshire 

 examined on the 16th December, which had the white 

 plumage delicately tinted with rose-colour. 



In the young, with the quill-feathers just appearing, the 

 down is rather more ruddy than in the Red Grouse, and the 

 patch on the crown and nape is of a rather paler chestnut 

 in the centre ; but when half-fledged the young are greyer 

 than those of the Grouse. The first quill-feathers are 

 mottled brown, but in August they are replaced by white 

 ones, and a grey body plumage, similar to that of the adults, 

 is assumed. 



In winter large numbers of so-called " Ptarmigan " are 

 sent over to the English markets ; fully seven-eighths of them 

 being, however, Willow-Grouse in winter dress. These may 

 be recognized by their larger size, and, in the case of the 

 males, by the absence of the black lores, which are always 

 present in the male Ptarmigan. 



In the three representations of the Ptarmigan at the 

 head of this subject, the lower figure is taken from a female 

 killed in the month of May, the upper figure from a male 

 killed in October, and the middle figure from a male bird 

 killed in January. 



