10 THE GROUSE SUBFAMILY 



brownish black, mottled with buff on the outer webs. The rest of the under parts 

 whitish, obscurely barred with dusky. The tail feathers are black, irregularly 

 barred and mottled with buff. After the next moult they differ from the adult only 

 in that the outer primaries have blackish markings along the terminal part of the 

 shafts. The nestling in down resembles that of the red-grouse, but differs in having 

 the crown sepia coloured instead of chestnut with a sepia border. Posteriorly this 

 somewhat diamond-shaped cap is bounded by conspicuous patches of light buff, 

 [w. P. P.] 



2. Distribution. In the British Isles the ptarmigan is confined to the 

 mountains of Scotland at the present time, though apparently it formerly existed 

 on the fells of the Lake District. Till about 1822 it survived on the high ground of 

 Dumfries and Galloway. It is believed to be now extinct in the Outer Hebrides, 

 though still found in Mull, Islay, Jura, and Skye. On the mainland from Ben 

 Lomond northwards it is found on all the mountains over 2000 feet in height east 

 of the Caledonian Canal. In W. Ross it is plentiful, but seems to be disappearing in 

 W. Sutherland and Caithness (Millais), and is extinct in the Orkneys. Unknown in 

 Ireland. On the Continent the ptarmigan is resident in Scandinavia, south to lat. 

 58^ in Norway, and Dalecarlia in Sweden. In N. Russia it is found north to the 

 shores of the Arctic Ocean and south to 67 in Lapland and 61 in the Urals. It also 

 occurs in the whole Alpine range, ranging into the Tyrol, Styria, and Carinthia, and 

 also in the Pyrenees and Navarre, but apparently not in the Cantabrian range. 

 In Greenland, Iceland, Spitsbergen, Arctic America, and Arctic Asia it is represented 

 by allied forms. [F. o. B. j.] 



3. Migration. Resident: changes of altitude -a species of "vertical 

 migration " are the only seasonal movements. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The breeding-grounds of this species in Scotland lie 

 much higher than those of the red-grouse, usually between 2000 and 4000 feet, 

 where there is little vegetation but mosses, hepatics, stunted heather, and other moor- 

 land plants. A depression is scratched out by the hen, and is usually unlined or only 

 very scantily furnished with fragments of moss and ling and feathers from the sitting 

 bird. (PI. LX.) The eggs are 7 to 12 in number, but usually 8 or 9. They resemble 

 those of the red-grouse, and in some cases are indistinguishable, but as a rule the 

 ground-colour is whiter, the markings more sparingly distributed and blacker, with 

 less of the rich deep red-brown so often found in the eggs of the red-grouse. Average 

 size of 35 eggs, T70 x 1'2 in. [43*18 x 30'7 mm.]. Incubation is carried on by the 

 hen alone, who is a very close sitter. The period, according to Mr. J. G. Millais, is 



