CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 67 



The nest and eggs were taken at the Fern Islands, 

 off the coast of Northumberland, in June, 1867. 



PTAKMIGAN. (SUMMER.) 

 Case 74. 



Although it may possibly be regarded as improper to 

 exhibit a game bird shot during the breeding season, 

 I hope that my attempt to show the Ptarmigan in its 

 nesting plumage, and so illustrate the three seasons of 

 summer, autumn, and winter, will be considered suffi- 

 cient excuse for such an unsportsmanlike performance. 



It is only among the mists near the summits of the 

 highest hills that its nest is to be found. Here, with- 

 out a neighbour, save the Dotterel, Snow Bunting, or 

 Blue Hare, it passes the summer, till driven by the 

 storms to seek shelter from the winter blasts in the 

 more sheltered corries at a lower elevation. 



It would soon become more numerous were it not 

 for the tribute it is forced to pay to the mountain Fox 

 and Haven. 



The eggs of this bird are by no means easily dis- 

 covered. Though frequently searched for, I never had 

 the luck to meet with a nest except by accident. At 

 last, after many unsuccessful attempts, three nests 

 were discovered within a few hundred yards of one 

 another, on the hills above Glenlyon, in the north-west 

 of Perthshire. 



I had so many times gone over the ground within 

 eight or ten miles of the Lodge without success, that 

 I at length determined to search the land belonging to 

 some adjoining shootings over which I had liberty to 

 hunt for any specimens I might require. 



F 2 



