484 PTARMIGAN. 



shire, Ross, and Sutherland, but it is exceedingly local. In Ireland 

 it is quite unknown. 



The Ptarmigan is resident in the Lofoden Islands, and on the 

 fells of Scandinavia above the limits of tree-growth, as well as in 

 the loftier portions of Finland, the Kola Peninsula, and the Ural 

 Mountains. It is found in the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps, 

 and in small numbers in Tyrol, Styria, and Carinthia, though no 

 longer in Transylvania ; while in the Pyrenees it is tolerably abun- 

 dant near the snow-line, and it is said to occur in the mountains 

 of the Asturias and Leon. In Asia, our Ptarmigan appears to 

 inhabit the Altai and some other ranges, and a bird (not in summer 

 dress) obtained near Yokohama in Japan, at an elevation of more 

 than 9,000 ft., is ascribed to this species ; but on the lower ground 

 of Northern Siberia and Arctic America, as well as in Greenland 

 and Iceland, its representative is the browner L. rupestris, or some 

 other closely-allied form. In Spitsbergen we find L. hemileucurus, 

 which is larger and fairly distinct. 



The nest is a hole scraped in the soil and scantily lined, while 

 the eggs, laid late in May, are 8-10 in number; the ground-colour 

 is, as a rule, rather lighter than in those of the Red Grouse, and 

 they are smaller in size, measuring about 17 by i*i in. In wet or 

 stormy seasons the various families associate or pack by the begin- 

 ning of August, but otherwise not till winter ; they are scarcer on 

 the extreme summits of the mountains than at a lower elevation, 

 and birds shot in the highest situations are usually small in size. 

 The food consists of the fresh green tops of ling &c., with various 

 kinds of berries ; and, like the Red Grouse, the Ptarmigan suffers 

 from disease, at least in Scotland. 



The male in summer has a red wattle over each eye ; lores, head, 

 shoulders and breast blackish ; upper parts, long tail-coverts and 

 flanks finely mottled and barred with greyish-brown ; tail-feathers 

 black, tipped with white; belly white. ' Length 15 in. ; wing 8 in. 

 The plumage of the female is orange-tawny, barred with black. In 

 both sexes and at all seasons — except for the short time that the 

 young are in nestling plumage — the wings are white, with dark shafts 

 to the quills. In autumn the upper parts are finely vermiculated 

 with slate-grey. In winter both sexes are white, but the male may 

 be recognized by his black lores and eye-stripes ; old females, how- 

 ever, sometimes exhibit the latter. More than nine-tenths of the 

 so-called ' Ptarmigan ' sent over to our markets are Willow-Grouse 

 in winter dress ; these may be known by their larger size, and 

 as regards the males — by the absence of any black on the lores. 



