200 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



parts, becoming larger and more numerous as the sea- 

 son wears on; but so gradual is the change that a 

 month after it begins there is not much difference in 

 the plumage perceptible, the general aspect being that 

 of summer. There is much more of the light rufous, 

 however, and the appearance is lighter and grayer, as 

 though bleached. The dark ar.eas predominate, how- 

 ever, throughout October, and, as I have been in- 

 formed by. persons who have killed them throughout 

 the year, it is late in December or January before they 

 become pure white, some few birds showing occasional 

 dark spots even throughout the latter month. 



"The ptarmigan feeds upon the leaves and stalks of 

 various alpine plants, being particularly fond of those 

 of a species of Cassia, the flowers of which I have 

 frequently taken from its crop. It also lives largely 

 upon insects, and in winter is said to subsist on the 

 buds and leaves of the pines and firs. Its flesh is light- 

 colored, though not as white as that.of the gray grouse, 

 to which it is usually considered inferior for the table. 

 In localities where it is seldom molested, it is very 

 tame, and I have been informed by persons whose 

 word is worthy of belief, that they have frequently 

 killed it with sticks; but when persistently persecuted 

 it soon becomes wild and leaves the range of a shotgun 

 with surprising quickness. After hunting several large 

 flocks for three or four days, they grew so shy that 

 it was difficult to approach within gunshot, although 

 at first they had been comparatively tame. Nimble of 

 foot, the ptarmigan frequently prefers to run away on 



