PTARMIGAN LIVING IN SNOW DRIFTS. 321 



tracks of these birds are generally seen in conjunction 

 whith those of hares, and it seems probable that they 

 exist in much the same way as their fourfooted com- 

 panions, and live like them beneath the snow, and 

 feed upon the same plants. Although only 5 2 seem to 

 have been killed by the late Arctic Expedition under 

 Sir G. Nares, * ptarmigan are nevertheless known to 

 thrive everywhere in the polar regions, and also on 

 most mountain ranges throughout the northern temperate 

 zone, which are pretty constantly covered with snow. 

 Thus in Scotland it is stated on good authority that 

 these hardy birds " are seldom found in any quantity 

 below 2000 feet ;^and where the heather and grouse 

 cease to exist, there they thrive." f 



Ptarmigan are consequently known as the " snow- 

 grouse," and the red grouse of Scotland (Lagopus 

 Scoticus, which belongs to the same family as the 

 "heather grouse)." 



But although no degree of cold appears to be too 

 intense for ptarmigan, it certainly seems strange how 

 they manage to support life during the depth of the 

 polar winter, when everything is so deeply buried 

 beneath the snow. It would seem however, that to 

 these birds the drifting snows provide at once a 

 shelter and a home : it is to their cover that they will 

 at once fly, when alarmed, or when seeking refuge 

 from the force of the icy blizzards, which so frequently 

 sweep the surface of vast expanses of the arctic snow fields 

 in winter ; and during severe weather they seem seldom 



* Voyage to the Polar Sea, by Capt. Sir Geo. Nares, R.N., Vol. ii, 

 1878. See Appendix, and Game List, pp. 352, 353. 



f Shooting and Salmon Fishing Hints and Recollections, by Augustus 

 Grimble, 1842, p. 107. 



VOL. II. 21 



