176 GAME BIRDS AND SHOOTING-SKETCHES 



this is that Ptarmigan do not have the same three forms 

 that the Grouse have. This is noticeable in the Grouse 

 cocks by the red, the black, and the white, and in the 

 hens by the spotted, the yellow, the red, and the black 

 types. Now if the Ptarmigan had all these it would 

 indeed be almost impossible to lay down any fixed rule 

 for finding birds to correspond with the illustrations 

 given. 



By a careful examination of a very large series of 

 birds, and by having two pairs of fresh -killed birds sent 

 to me in every month throughout a whole year, I have 

 deduced the following, namely : That Ptarmigan have 

 three distinct moults during the year, and that from 

 the end of June to the middle of November, when the 

 white dress is finally assumed, the feathers are in a 

 constant state of change of colour. The following are 

 the normal changes throughout the year : 

 January. The white plumage. 



February. The same. (In very early springs the 

 first summer-plumage feathers begin to appear, 

 always on the neck.) 



March and April. Summer plumage coming gradu- 

 ally in, the breast-feathers being the last to appear. 

 May. The summer plumage quite complete by the 



last week of the month. 



June. Summer plumage. Males generally showing- 

 white tips to feathers. 



July. The white tips on back and breast of the male 

 have now worn off the feathers, the breast being 

 very black and whole plumage much darker, and 

 in the female the whole plumage is more rusty 



