126 PTARMIGAN-SHOOTING. 



tempting a mark for a rifle as could possibly be placed. It 

 was not to be resisted even with my small shot. So, 

 slowly uncasing my gun, and taking deadly aim, I fired. 

 Puss gave an active bound at this unlooked-for attack, and 

 took her leave with far less ceremony than she made her 

 entree. 



I had just reloaded, when my guide appeared with a 

 breathless malediction on my gun. He had seen my friend 

 going down the mountain,, but quite beyond recall ; and, 

 when returning to me, had stumbled on the ptarmigan, 

 most conspicuously perched on the top of a rock. He was 

 in the act of taking his marks to know the place again, 

 in the hope of finding me, when my shot abruptly put an 

 end to his schemes. The birds were equally dissatisfied 

 with the sound as their four-footed ally of the crags, and 

 made the same use of their wings that she did of her legs. 

 It was now late, but as the man had some idea of where 

 they might be, I could not resist the temptation of giving 

 them one more trial. We had almost given up hope, 

 when they a third time rose, very wild, fully a hundred 

 yards off, from a knoll of moss where they were at feed. 

 My time was now " up," so I descended the mountain well 

 pleased with my day's sport, notwithstanding the mishap 

 at the end. 



The ptarmigan, I believe, has never been tamed. It 

 subsists on the rock-plants, mosses, and berries, upon which 

 it is curious to see a pack feeding like grouse on young 

 heather. The plumage begins to change colour in October, 

 when the bird gains a double set of feathers for winter. 



