GROUSE AND PTARMIGAN 2163 



summer, and in some instances only the head, mantle, and chest change color, the 

 rest of the plumage remaining white. It would thus seem that in those countries 

 where the summer is of short duration, sufficient time is not allowed for the full 

 summer and autumn changes to be effected before winter sets in once more; and 

 no doubt this parti-colored plumage affords even better protection in such localities 

 than if a complete change to a darker plumage took place. In summer the male 

 ptarmigan has the general color of the head, upper parts, sides, and flanks dark 

 brown or blackish brown, finely mottled and barred with gray and rusty; while the 

 chest and upper breast are blackish, sometimes slightly mottled with buff; the rest 

 of the under parts and the middle tail feathers remaining white. The female has 

 the general plumage above, as well as the middle tail feathers, black mixed with 

 rufous buff, most of the feathers being edged with white or buff, and the under 

 parts rufous buff barred with black. This plumage so closely approaches in color 

 the general surroundings of the nesting places, that the bird when sitting on its 

 eggs is almost invisible. As the autumn advances, the darker-colored feathers in 

 both male and female are replaced by a gray plumage finely mottled with black, and 

 sometimes buff, and as the season continues the more or less complete white winter 

 plumage already mentioned is once more assumed. It is noteworthy that a consid- 

 erable amount of the changes in color is due not to molting but partly to a rearrange- 

 ment of the pigment in the feathers themselves. In all the group, except red grouse, 

 the primary feathers (which, like those of the tail, are only cast at the autumn 

 molt) remain white throughout the year. All ptarmigan are essentially high-ground 

 birds; the red grouse being an exception, occurring sometimes on low-ground bogs 

 close to the sea. Unlike the black grouse, the common ptarmigan and the rest of 

 its allies pair with one female only, remaining with her throughout the breeding 

 season. 



During the nesting season the ptarmigan is tame, and may be approached 

 within a few yards. On the barren hill tops and watersheds, where it finds a home 

 among the scattered boulders, dwarf Alpine plants, deer grass, and mosses, the 

 wanderer is often startled by the hoarse croaking cry of the male, as he rises sud- 

 denly from the ground where he was squatting invisible almost at the feet, and 

 settles on some neighboring rock. On being again approached, he makes a 

 second short flight to some commanding position, where with outstretched neck he 

 watches the movements of the intruder. Soon after, one may nearly walk on the 

 female sitting on her eggs, or in charge of a number of beautiful chicks patterned 

 with yellow and brown down. The young scatter in every direction, running 

 with considerable speed, and helping themselves along with their still tiny, un- 

 developed wings, while the anxious mother covers their retreat by going through 

 a performance intended, by attracting attention, to cover their retreat and convey 

 the idea that at least one of her wings has been broken. In a few seconds, how- 

 ever, she appears to recover, and skulks off among the rocks, and when one looks 

 to see what has become of the young, they, too, have vanished. The ptarmigan 

 inhabits most of the higher mountain ranges of Europe, and possibly extends into 

 Central Asia, where its place is taken by the nearly- allied rock grouse (L. rupestris), 

 differing in the more rufous plumage of the male in summer, though in some locali- 



