PTARMIGAN. 209 



until the spring, when the white feathers become barred with 

 yellow and black, and changed into blackish, barred with 

 greyish white on the back. 



The young are at first covered with a light yellowish grey 

 down; the head on the crown with a light chesnut mark, edged 

 with a darker shade; the back patched with brown. The 

 plumage soon changes, the upper parts becoming spotted and 

 barred with pale grey and brown, and the wings and the under 

 parts white. They acquire the white plumage the first winter, 

 but the spots and bars larger than in the second. 



The Ptarmigan of this country rarely become so beautifully 

 and perfectly white as those of more northern countries. 



These birds vary greatly in their summer plumage, some 

 being most elegantly banded or mottled, and others more or 

 less dotted and even patched and spotted with black; in old 

 birds the dark markings dwindle to mere slender waved lines, 

 or even a series of dots. 



It would appear from Macgillivray's measurements that these 

 birds differ occasionally in the proportionate length of their 

 several parts. 



The plate is taken from a design by the Eev. K. P. Alington. 



