THE WILLOW GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN. 41 



small black markings across them can hardly be discerned, but 

 those on the head and neck do not fade much. At this season, 

 most of the birds will have cast the last of these old feathers, 

 and will stand complete in their new winter dress, in which 

 they continue until the end of February. 



^''December. — The different plumages noted in the preceding 

 month may be more or less normal, but during this month 

 many birds, especially the cocks, retain throughout the winter 

 a large amount of the autumn feathers on the back. One that 

 I received on December 31st, 1890, from West Ross-shire, is 

 figured (/.<:.) as an example of this stage, and maybe taken as a 

 typical specimen, though somewhat dark. In December the 

 average of pure white birds is about one in four, but in severe 

 winters they vary materially, and all the birds may be pure 

 white." — Game-Birds and Shooti?ig-Sketches, pp. 69, 70 (1892). 



Habits. — The home of the Ptarmigan is among the high stony 

 table-lands and rocks above the limits of tree-growth and heaths. 

 Like the Willow Grouse, the plumage of the male varies greatly 

 in different localities, and the amount of white feathers retained 

 during the summer and autumn plumages is greatly affected 

 by the latitude which the birds inhabit, examples from the north 

 of Norway retaining much white in the upper-parts throughout 

 the summer months. This does not apply to the females, all 

 of which get their full summer breeding-dress, which is no 

 doubt essential for their protection during the nesting-season. 

 In the same way, the mixed plumage of the males no doubt 

 renders them less conspicuous among the patches of snow 

 which, in the more northern latitudes, are not melted during 

 the short summer. The general habits of the Ptarmigan re- 

 semble those of the Grouse, their monogamous habits, mode 

 of nesting and feeding, being much the same, but the call is 

 very different from the " bee " of the latter, and is more of a 

 hoarse croak. The female is an excellent mother, taking the 

 greatest care of her young, and boldly menacing any unex- 

 pected intruder who may come on her unawares. She flutters 



