CH. XXXI. COLOURS OF BIRDS. 171) 



of these birds of prey, that they never carry off the 

 young wood-pigeons till they are nearly fledged and 

 ready to fly. 



The ptarmigan's chance of escape from birds of 

 prey is much better : they are exactly the colour of 

 the stones in summer, and of the snow in winter, 

 and change their colour as that of their abiding 

 place is altered. The grouse is as nearly the 

 colour of the brown heather as it is possible for a 

 bird to be ; his bright eye and red comb are the 

 only discoverable points about him when he is 

 crouched in it. The blackcock's usual haunt is in 

 lower situations, and he delights in the peat-moss, 

 where the ground is nearly as black as his own 

 plumage. The partridge and quail are exactly 

 similar in colour to the dried grass or stubble, and 

 the quickest eye can seldom see them on the ground 

 when crouched, and not erect or moving about to 

 feed. The pheasant's colour very nearly resembles 

 the dead leaves of the wood and coppice, which are 

 his favourite haunts. 



The owl sits securely close to the trunk of a 

 forest-tree, her mottled-brown plumage being in 

 colour exactly like the bark of the trunk close to 

 which she is perched. The peregrine-falcon, with 

 her blue-grey feathers, can scarcely be distinguished 

 from the lichen-covered crag, where she sits for 



