PTARMIGAN 



PLATE CXLI. 



Lagopus vulgaris, .... FLEMING. 



Lagopus mutus, SELBY. GOULD. 



Tetrao lagopus, LINNAEUS. 



THE Ptarmigan pairs early in the spring, and the eggs 

 are begun to be laid in May, and are hatched by the 

 beginning of July. The hen alone brings up the brood. 



The nest, if any be formed, for sometimes the bare earth 

 is laid upon, is composed of a small portion of heather or 

 grass, placed in some slight hollow under a rock, stone, or 

 plant, and is very difficult to be detected, "for," says Sir 

 William Jardine, "the female, on perceiving a person approach, 

 generally leaves it, and is only discovered by her motion 

 over the rocks, or her low clucking cry." The male on the 

 first sign of danger has flown off, and she thus follows him, 

 the young dispersing in all directions, hiding themselves and 

 laying still under any stones, tufts, or bushes. Meyer says : 

 "It is reported that the male Ptarmigan behaves very 

 remarkably during the time when the female sits on her 

 eggs, and that under these circumstances he will sit immov- 

 able in one spot for hours together, even on the approach 

 of danger ; and when stationed thus near the nest he has 

 been known to remain there, looking around on the landscape 

 quite unmoved. As soon as the young are hatched, both 



