THE PTARMIGAN. 33 







notwithstanding this apparent gentleness of disposition, it is im- 

 possible to domesticate them ; for, when caught, they refuse to 

 eat, and always die soon afterwards. 



Their voice is very extraordinary ; and they do not often ex- 

 ert it but in the night. It is very rarely that they are found in 

 Denmark : but by some accident one of these birds, some years 

 ago, happened to stray within a hundred miles of Stockholm, 

 which very much alarmed the common people of the neighbour- 

 hood ; for from its nightly noise a report very soon arose, that 

 the wood where it took up its residence, was haunted by a ghost. 

 So much were the people terrified, that nothing could tempt the 

 post boys to pass the wood after dusk. The spirit was, how- 

 ever, at last happily removed, by some gentlemen sending their 

 gamekeepers into the wood by moonlight, who soon discovered 

 and killed the harmless ptarmigan. 



Ptarmigans form their nests on the ground, in dry ridges ; 

 and lay from six to ten dusky eggs with reddish-brown spots. 



The usual method of taking these birds is in nets made or 

 twine, twenty feet square, connected to four poles, and propped 

 with sticks in front. A long line is fastened to these, the end 

 of which is held by a person who lies concealed at a distance. 

 Several people drive the birds within reach of the net ; which is 

 then pulled down, and is found to cover fifty or sixty of them. 

 They are in such plenty in the northern parts of America, that 

 upwards of ten thousand are frequently caught for the use of the 

 Hudson's-bay Settlement, between November and May. 



They are taken by the Laplanders by means of a hedge form- 

 ed with the branches of birch trees, and having small openings 

 at certain intervals with a ssare in each. The birds are tempted 

 to feed on the buds and catkins of the birch ; and whenever 

 they endeavour to pass through the openings, they are caught. 



They are excellent food ; being said to taste so like the com- 

 mon grouse, as to he scarcely distinguishable from it. 



