292 Wonders of the Bird World 



which is complete by the end of April or the beginning of 

 May ; also a distinct autumn plumage, which is retained 

 until the following spring. To put it more concisely, both 

 male and female have two distinct moults during the year, 

 but in the male they occur in the autumn and winter, and 

 in the female in summer and autumn ; the former having 

 no distinct winter plumage. In the Willow Grouse and 

 Ptarmigan there are three distinct changes of plumage 

 in summer, autumn, and winter, in both male and 

 female alike, the winter plumage being white in all." l 



My friend Nicolai Hanson tells me that he was once 

 witness to a curious performance in the Willow Grouse in 

 Norway. These birds seek out the places where the snow 

 has begun to melt, and are often to be found in small packs 

 where the snow lies thinnest. On one occasion he had 

 climbed a mountain in pursuit of Ryper, and peeped 

 cautiously over a ridge, when he saw several of these birds 

 under a ledge on the other side, where the snow had either 

 not fallen, or had melted away. Directly the birds 

 perceived him, they did not fly away, but commenced to 

 dust vigorously in the earth, and to throw the latter over 

 their backs, apparently with the intention of rendering their 

 white plumage invisible. The birds he shot out of the 

 flock had their white backs quite soiled with earth. 



1 { Handbook to the Game-Birds,' i. p. 28. 



