156 GAME BIRDS AND SHOOTING-SKETCHES 



were always a few in the Hoy hills, Orkneys. It has 

 also been extinct in Cumberland and Wales for some 

 time. 



Far away from the haunts of man, in their lofty 

 solitudes, the Ptarmigan lead a life which, compared wdtli 

 that of the other oame birds, is one of comparative peace 

 and security. With the exception of the occasional 

 appearance of a stray gunner wandering in to their 

 domain and shooting a few brace after the stalking-season 

 is over, they need have but little cause to fear the pres- 

 ence of man, since he generally apjDcars in the form of a 

 deer-stalker or passing shepherd and is regarded more as 

 a friend than otherwise. AVere it not for the fact that 

 they constitute the favourite prey of the Fox and the 

 Eagle, they would in all probability be as numerous as 

 their neighbours the Grouse ; but these deadly enemies, 

 chiefly the latter, are their superiors in point of cunning 

 and powers of vision, and all their constant watchfulness 

 and the additional safeguard that Nature has provided in 

 the shape of the harmonious blendings of their plumage 

 with the surrounding objects fail to bafile the attacks of 

 the destroyer.^ 



^ In tlie spring of 1888 a colley at Blackmount was observed chasing a 

 large fox down a hill towards his master's house. James McColl, the 

 forester to whom the dog belonged, happened to be standing outside his 

 door as the two came flying down the hill, and was much surprised to see 

 how easily his dog, which was at all times a slow animal, rapidly gained on 

 Master Reynard, who appeared considerably distressed and who took the first 

 oj^portunity that a large cairn afforded of going to earth. McColl soon had 

 his terriers out, and in a short time the pursued one met his fate in a 

 manner that would hardly have received the unqualified praise of Leicester- 

 shire sportsmen. On his carcase being opened, the reasons for his lack of 

 speed were apparent. The colley had evidently disturbed him at his dinner, 



