THE WHITE GROUSE, OR PTARMIGAN. 279 



quest of food. They are plentiful throughout the barren and arid 

 plains of the Columbia, as well as in the interior of North California, 

 bat are nowhere seen to the east of the Rocky Mountains. 



THE WHITE GROUSE, OR PTARMIGAN. 



The Ptarmigan is somewhat forger than a Pigeon. Its bill is black ; 

 and its plumage, in summer, is of a pale brown color, elegantly mottlen 

 with small bars and dusky spots. The head and neck are marked 

 with broad bars of black, rust-color, and white. The wings and belly 

 are white. 



These birds moult in the winter months, changing at this season 

 their summer dress for one more warm ; and, instead of having their 

 feathers of many colors, they then become white. By a wonderful pro- 

 vision, every feather also, except those of the wings and tail, becomes 

 double ; a downy one shooting out at the base of each, which gives 

 an additional protection against the cold. 



Their feet, by being feathered entirely to the toes, are well 

 protected from the cold. Every morning the birds take a flight 

 directly upward into the air, apparently to shake the snow from 

 their wings ami bodies. They feed in the mornings and evenings, 

 and in the middle of the day they bask in the sun. 



About the beginning of October the Ptarmigans assemble in flocks 

 of ft hundred and fifty or two hundred, and live much among the 

 willows, the tops of which they eat. In December they retire from 

 the flats about Hudson's Bay to the mountains, to feed on the moun- 

 tain berries. Some of the Greenlanders believe that Ptarmigans, in 

 order to provide a subsistence through the winter, collect a store of 

 mountain berries into some crevice of a rock near their retreat ; and it 

 is generally supposed, that, by means of their long, broad, and hollow 

 nails, they form lodges under the snow, where they lie in heaps to 

 protect themselves from the cold. During winter they are often seen 

 flying in great numbers among the rocks. 



Though sometimes found in the mountains of the north of Scotland, 

 the Ptarmigans are chiefly inhabitants of that part of the globe which 

 lies about the Arctic Circle. Their food consists of the buds of tree*, 

 young shoots of pine and heath, and of fruits and berries which grow 

 on the mountains. They are so stupid and silly, as often to sufler 

 themselves, without the least difficulty, to be knocked on the head, or 

 to be driven into any snare that is set for them. They frequently 

 streteh out their neck, apparently in curiosity, and remain otherwise 

 unconcerned, while the fowler takes aim at them. When frightened, 

 they fly off; but immediately afterwards they alight, and stand staring 

 at their foe. If the hen bird be killed, it is said that the male will 

 not forsake her, but may then also be killed. So little alarmed are 

 these birds at the presence of mankind, as even to bear driving like 

 poultry ; yet, notwithstanding this apparent gentleness of disposition, 

 it is impossible to domesticate them ; for when caught they refuse to 

 eat, and they always die soon afterwards. 



