180 AMEKICAN GAME BIIID SHOOTING. 



round; hence, it may be readily distinguished from its 

 congeners at all times. Its plumage is pure white in win- 

 ter, but in summer it is mottled with brown and tawny, 

 except the wings, tail, abdomen, legs, and crissum. The 

 toes are feathered about half their length in summer and 

 autumn, and wholly in winter, the feathers being ex- 

 ceedingly fine and hair-like. It is most abundant in the 

 Eocky, Cascade, and Sierra Nevada Mountains, as por- 

 tions of these are wrapped in shrouds of perpetual snow. 



The pairing season commences later with this species 

 than with those which have a less arctic habitat. The nest 

 is generally constructed in the rudest manner, of grass, 

 leaves, or moss, and is placed in a hollow near some bush 

 or rock. The hen lays from eight to twelve eggs, and 

 when she is hatching she will permit herself to be cap- 

 tured rather than abandon them. When the young ap- 

 pear, both paients are most assiduous in providing food 

 and protecting them from enemies, and so undaunted is 

 their courage that they will even face man in their de- 

 fence. 



These " haunters of the herbless peak " are so tame in 

 summer that they will allow a person to get within a few 

 feet of them before they make an efPort to escape; and 

 when they are flushed they may fly only a few yards be- 

 fore they alight. They then look at the object of their 

 suspicion, and if he does not attempt to molest them, 

 they commence feedmg as placidly as if they did not 

 have a foe on earth; but if he makes any hostile demon- 

 stration they quickly conceal themselves in thickets or 

 seek refuge among the rocks. They are very wild 

 in winter, however, and ready to flush before a man can 

 get within shooting distance, particularly if the weather 

 IS blustry and cold and the ground open. A cough, a 

 sneeze, a word, or a footstep is suflBcient to rouse them 

 and cause them to seek safety in the long burrows which 

 they excavate in the snow where it is anyway deep. This 



