200 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
parts, becoming larger and more numerous as the sea- 
son wears on; but so gradual is the change that a 
month after it begins there is not much difference in 
the plumage perceptible, the general aspect being that 
of summer. There is much more of the light rufous, 
however, and the appearance is lighter and grayer, as 
though bleached. The dark areas predominate, how- 
ever, throughout October, and, as I have been in- 
formed by. persons who have killed them throughout 
the year, it is late in December or January before they 
become pure white, some few birds showing occasional 
dark spots even throughout the latter month. 
“The ptarmigan feeds upon the leaves and stalks of 
various alpine plants, being particularly fond of those 
of a species of Cassia, the flowers of which I have 
frequently taken from its crop. It also lives largely 
upon insects, and in winter is said to subsist on the 
buds and leaves of the pines and firs. Its flesh is light- 
colored, though not as white as thateof the gray grouse, 
to which it is usually considered inferior for the table. 
In localities where it is seldom molested, it is very 
tame, and I have been informed by persons whose 
word is worthy of belief, that they have frequently 
killed it with sticks; but when persistently persecuted 
it soon becomes wild and leaves the range of a shotgun 
with surprising quickness. After hunting several large 
flocks for three or four days, they grew so shy that 
it was difficult to approach within gunshot, although 
at first they had been comparatively tame. Nimble of 
foot, the ptarmigan frequently prefers to run away on 
