PTARMIGAN 163 



During the winter, if severe, the Ptarmigan assemble 

 on their own ground like the Grouse, and frequent in 

 packs the stony ridges free from snow. 1 These packs only 

 unite as a rule for a short time, breaking up at once into 

 their former coveys on the first sign of fine weather and 

 warmth, and remaining so until April, when the pairing- 

 season commences, and each day sees the little party 

 become less and less till all are paired except a few old 

 cocks, who, like Grouse, neither settle down quietly to 

 domestic affairs nor allow others to do so. 



Ptarmigan being monogamous, like Grouse, more or 

 less resemble that species in their habits during the spring, 

 with the exception that, like the polygamous Blackcock 

 and Capercaillie, they have recognised pairing-grounds, to 

 which at daybreak a covey repairs to settle the affairs of 

 love and war. Ptarmigan, however, do not appear to 

 hold closely to any particular spots from year to year, as 

 the above-named species do, but show a decided incon- 

 stancy in their selection, sometimes resorting to places 

 that are entirely different in the character of their 

 surroundings from those selected the previous year. At 

 one time the spot chosen will be situated on a flat amongst 

 the slates and slabs of granite on the extreme summit of a 

 mountain, and another in some almost sequestered nook on 

 the steep slopes where huge boulders are interspersed with 

 the vegetation and alpine plants on which they like to feed. 



molested in their homes there is but little chance of their becoming extinct, 

 even if only a few of the young birds pass through their baptism of gun and 

 trap in safety. 



1 In the year 1891 I encountered a pack of at least 50 birds at Guisachan 

 on the 23rd of August, an unusually early date. 



