COMMON PTARMIGAN. 245 



snow itself, in which it buries itself up to the neck. 

 In this latter situation these birds are not infrequently 

 snowed in, and have great difficulty in keeping a small 

 loop-hole. The huntsmen of the Alps profess to 

 know that, when these birds are snowed in and be- 

 come actually covered over by the snow, they remain 

 thus at times for a whole week, when hunger prompts 

 them to the exertion of extricating themselves, and 

 not infrequently several birds are found dead in such 

 situations." 



The food of the Ptarmigan consists of the buds and 

 young shoots of heather and other mountain plants ; 

 it also feeds on certain berries, such as the cranberry 

 and bilberry. Its note is said to resemble the low 

 croaking of a frog. 



The Ptarmigan is the smallest of the various species 

 of Grouse in Britain. Its summer plumage undergoes 

 a most complete change as w^inter sets in. In both 

 seasons it so nearly resembles its surroundings that 

 it is possible, and in fact probable, that one might 

 walk into the midst of a flock of them without being 

 aware of their presence. In winter the plumage is 

 pure white, with the exception of a black streak from 

 the beak to the eye, and a few black feathers in the 

 tail. There is a patch of bare red skin over the eye. 

 In the spring and summer, however, the prevailing 

 colours are huffish brown and grey with dark spots. 

 In their summer plumage they seem to lose the neat 

 appearance which their smooth winter feathers give 

 them. Cox writes of two which were shot in July, 

 1882, at Spitzbergen, "They are incomparably the 

 dirtiest and most ragged wild birds I have ever seen, 

 and look more as if they had been prisoners among 

 the stock of some Seven Dials bird-fancier than birds 



