100 PTAKMIGAN SHOOTING. 



Jarcline's specimen of the female of the rock ptarmi- 

 gan, twelve inches and a half; average length of male 

 specimen, thirteen and a half. The rich, soft, dark 

 pencillings of ochreous yellow of the female at breed- 

 ing season, render it a peculiarly beautiful bird ; its 

 plumage being much brighter and clearer than that 

 of the male in the autumnal months. Their food 

 is supposed to be the mountain plants of their own 

 inaccessible regions. 



The common ptarmigan seems completely inac- 

 cessible to a sensation of cold. Ever avoiding the 

 sun's rays, he chooses the pinnacles of the moun- 

 tains, and its biting frosts ; and when the snow 7 melts 

 at the sides of the mountains, he still ascends higher 

 and higher. In Mr. Daniel's account of them he 

 says, " Ptarmigans are thinly scattered upon the 

 lofty hills near Keswick, in Cumberland, and some 

 few in Wales. . . . They are silly birds, and 

 so tame as to bear driving like poultry, and to suffer 

 a stone to be flung at them without rising ; yet, not- 

 withstanding this gentleness of disposition, it is im- 

 possible to domesticate them; they refuse to eat 

 when caught, and always die soon afterwards. So 

 heedless are they, that it is not even necessary to 

 have a dog to find them. As an edible, they taste 

 so like a grouse as to be scarcely distinguishable, and 

 keep in summer in small packs ; but never, like the 

 grouse, take shelter in the heath, but beneath loose 

 stones. In winter the white ptarmigans assemble 

 and fly in flocks, still preserving their stupid tame- 



