CH. XXXI. COLOURS OF BIRDS. 179 



etc. Their young, too, are constantly stolen out of 

 the nest by hawks and owls. It is a singular cir- 

 cumstance connected with the "table arrangements" 

 of these birds of prey, that they never carry off 

 the young wood-pigeons till they are nearly fledged 

 and ready to fly. 



The ptarmigan's chance of escape from birds of 

 prey is much better : they are exactly the colour of 

 the stones in summer, and of the snow in winter, 

 and change their colour as that of their abiding- 

 place is altered. The grouse is as nearly the 

 colour of the brown heather as it is possible for 

 a bird to be ; his bright eye and red comb are the 

 only discoverable points about him when he is 

 crouched in it. The blackcock's usual haunt is in 

 lower situations, and he delights in the peat-moss, 

 where the ground is nearly as black as his own 

 plumage. The partridge and quail are exactly 

 similar in colour to the dried grass or stubble, 

 and the quickest eye can seldom see them on the 

 ground when crouched, and not erect or moving 

 about to feed. The pheasant's colour very nearly 

 resembles the dead leaves of the wood and coppice, 

 which are his favourite haunts. 



The owl sits securely close to the trunk of a 

 forest tree, her mottled -brown plumage being in 

 colour exactly like the bark of the trunk close to 



