482 GREY PTARMIGAN, SAND-GROUSE. CHIONID^E. 



species are inhabitants of Britain ; the Brown Ptarmigan, or 

 Moor-Fowl, commonly termed the Red Grouse, which is common 

 on the high moorland districts of the northern counties of 

 England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland ; and the Grey Ptarmi- 

 gan, sometimes called the Alpine Partridge. It is in this last 



species, that the adaptation 

 to a residence among bleak 

 and snow-clad hills, is best 

 seen. Its mingled grey and 

 brown summer livery blends 

 so well with the hues of 

 weather-stained and lichen- 

 tinted rocks, that a whole 

 covey of them may be easily 

 passed without being no- 

 ticed ; and towards winter, 

 the colour of the plumage 



273.-GBEY PTARMHMN. gradually disappears, until 



it becomes of a pure white, not distinguishable from snow. The 

 Sand-Grouse are distinguished by their long pointed wings, and 

 by the conical form of their tails ; their bills are short and highly 

 arched. They are natives of the sandy plains and rocky deserts 

 of Africa, Asia, and the southern districts of Europe. They are 

 Birds of powerful and rapid flight, and love to wander from place 

 to place, sweeping over the hot and arid solitudes in which they 

 find a congenial abode. Though they repair in large flocks to 

 localities in which they can obtain water, they are not truly 

 gregarious, but disperse themselves in pairs over their feeding 

 grounds. They are so abundant in some districts, that when 

 they rise on the wing, they seem at a distance like large clouds. 

 433. The CHIONID^E, or Sheath-bills, resemble the Grouse, 

 but have the nostrils surrounded by a kind of sheath. They are 

 inhabitants of the southern hemisphere, where they represent 

 the Tetraonidse of the northern. Some of them bear a strong 

 resemblance to the Snipes, Plovers, and Sand-pipers among the 

 Waders ; and the Sheath-bill of the Southern Ocean frequents 

 the shores, feeding on sea-weed and inollusks, and sometimes 



