548 



THE PTARMIGAN. 



her weight. They also differ in plumage. The one is glossy 

 bluish-black, with a conspicuous white bar on the wings, and a 

 mixture of black and white feathers on the legs, with fringes 

 or pectinations on the toes ; a piece of bare scarlet skin over the 

 eyes ; iris, brown. The tail is curiously forked, on each side 

 the long feathers curve outward, giving the proud-looking bird 

 when courting a singular appearance, especially when cocked up, 

 the pure white of the under part contrasting strongly with the 

 deep black of the upper. The hen is grey-brown, darkest on 

 the upper parts, all barred and mottled with darker brown ; tail 

 slightly forked, straight at the end. The young males resemble 

 the female till the first moult. Length of the male, 23J inches, 

 and 33 in extent of wings. It sometimes breeds with the 

 capercailzie and the pheasant. The hybrid, found in Scandinavia 

 and other parts of Europe, called Tetrao Hybridus, is probably 

 between this bird and the capercailzie, so also is the Racldehahn 

 of the Swedes, but it will not domesticate, and never breeds in 

 confinement. The next genus is that of Lagopus, separated from 

 the Tetrao by Vieillot. 



Genus— LAGOPUS. 

 The Ptarmigan. 



So called by Pliny from the feet and toes being covered with 

 hairy feathers like the hare. The chief distinction between this 

 and the last genus is in having the tarsi and toes entirely 

 covered with hairy feathers, and the sides of the toes without 

 fringes or pectinations (like the teeth of a comb). The hind 

 toe is also shorter, little more than a nail — barely touching the 

 ground. They also differ in habits, seeking the higher and 

 bleaker regions, found in very high latitudes within the arctic 

 circle ; yet their food is much the same — shoots of heath, seeds 

 of grasses, and fruits of various Alpine plants, insects, &c. 

 They are monogamous, pair each spring — instead of the many- 

 wived capercailzie and black cock. 



