148 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



of Scotland. Birds of the present species pair, and con- 

 tinue with their broods until a return of the warm season. 

 As early as the end of March the female commences laying, 

 and the eggs, from eight to twelve in number, " are depo- 

 sited in a shallow hollow at the foot of some tuft of heath, 

 which affords a partial covering and shelter, and only a few 

 straws or grasses serve to separate them from the ground." 

 The eggs are of a pale yellow, or sometimes of a redder hue, 

 and most richly and profusely marked with brown, almost 

 approaching to black, and are among the most beautiful of 

 our British series. 



THE COMMON OR WHITE PTARMIGAN. Lagopus mutns. 

 Upon _the mountain-ranges which occur from the middle 

 to the north of Scotland, and in spots " where nothing is to 

 be seen but an interminable series of rugged rocks distri- 

 buted in boulder-masses, varying in size from huge lumps 

 to pieces of a few inches in diameter," the Ptarmigan de- 

 lights to haunt, increasing in abundance as the same kind 

 of wild country reaches to the north, and extending beyond 

 the mainland to the Hebrides. In Ireland it is not indi- 

 genous, and it is doubtful whether it is to be found at all, 

 at present, in England. In these barren and sequestered 

 situations the nest, of the very slightest character, is placed 



