WINTER DRESS 303 



provide a breeding-place for the ptarmigan. Formerly the 

 ptarmigan bred on the mountains of the Lake District, and 

 probably also in Wales. In its summer plumage it has 

 a considerable admixture of white, which blends with its 

 mottled browns and greys so as to be very protective among 

 the last snow-patches or the white bleached stones which the 

 thawing snow leaves bare. In winter the bird turns com- 

 pletely white, except for its short black tail-feathers, and a 

 small black eye-stripe in the cock. Its general appearance 

 can be well seen in the so-called ptarmigan sold at the 

 poulterers' ; but the great majority of these birds are actually 

 willow-grouse or ' rype ' in winter plumage, and are imported 

 from Scandinavia and northern Russia. They are larger 

 than true ptarmigan, and the cocks have not the black eye- 

 stripe. These willow-grouse are the nearest representa- 

 tive abroad to our own red grouse — the only bird peculiar 

 to Britain, unless we choose to regard the St. Kilda variety 

 of wren as a true species. It is another pretty illustration 

 of the working of the British climate that the red grouse does 

 not turn white in winter, though the willow-grouse does. 

 The common ptarmigan is also found in Norway, but haunts 

 higher ground, and is a good deal scarcer, just as it is out- 

 numbered by the red grouse here. 



Last of our little group of the white Arctic birds and 

 beasts comes the snow-bunting. It is rather an imperfect 

 specimen of the group, for its winter plumage is not pure 

 white ; but in its haunts and habits it is a true bird of the 

 snow-wastes. It breeds on the bleached, stony summits of 

 the highest Scottish mountains with the ptarmigan, and also 

 in the Shetlands. Its summer haunts extend far north to 

 Greenland. It arrives in England at irregular intervals in 

 considerable autumn and winter flocks, sometimes inter- 

 mingled with other species, and generally seen near the 



