TETRAONIDAZ—PTARMIGAN. 225 
buff ; wings brown, marked with buff, and darker brown; sides 
of neck buffy-white; cheeks pale brown; throat rufous, bounded: 
by a double crescent of black ; lower neck and breast pale 
rufous, shading into pale buff on the abdomen ; flanks rufous, 
longitudinally striped with buff; bill, legs and feet yellowish- 
brown; irides brown. Length 7 inches; culmen 0'5; wing 4°5; 
tail 2"5 ; tarsus 2. 
Adult Male (Winter): Cheeks and lower throat buff ; 
flanks not so bright chestnut, nor so much spotted. 
Adult Female: Closely resembles the male, but has the 
chin and throat pale buff, and breast and flanks thickly spotted 
with dark brown. 
Distribution: Found throughout Europe (except in the: 
far north), in Africa, and ranges through Asia to China, 
Habitat: Frequents corn-fields and open country, 
Note.—This species is very variable in colour, especially in males, 
Family TETRAONIDA. 
Genus LAGOPUS. 
COMMON PTARMIGAN. 
Lagopus mutus Leach. 
Adult Male (Summer): Chin, under parts below the 
chest and wings, pure white ; the primaries, with fore part of 
shafts blackish ; tatl black, the central feathers narrowly tipped 
with white ; plumage otherwise almost black, finely vermicu- 
lated with buffish-brown, with a few white feathers or white 
spots about the neck and head ; lores black; bill and claws 
dark brown; irides hazel-brown; above the eyes a scarlet 
wattle. Length about 15 inches; culmen 0'75; wing 7°5 to 8; 
tail 4°25 ; tarsus 1°3. 
Adult Female (Summer): Head, neck, upper parts, 
breast and flanks blackish, barred and vermiculated with rusty- ; 
yellow, the feathers here and there tipped with white; under 
tail-coverts partly coloured like the back ; plumage otherwise 
similar to the male. 
Q 
