50 



BIRD TRACKS IN THE SNOW. 



BY 



RICHARD CLAPHAM. 



The study of wild-life footprints is a branch of natural 

 history work that has received far less attention than it 

 deserves. A great deal can be learnt of the habits of furred 

 and feathered creatures by following their tracks and trails 

 in snow or soft ground. Animal tracks, of course, afford 

 more scope for study than those of birds, inasmuch as the 

 former never leave the ground except to climb, whereas 

 birds make use of their wings, and many of them spend but 

 brief portions of their existence on terra firma. Wildfowl, 

 waders, and game birds spend much more of their time on 

 the ground than birds of prey, or song birds, and one can, 

 therefore, learn a good deal about them by studying their 

 footprints. 



Although an experienced tracker can differentiate at once 

 between the tracks of all our British mammals, bird tracks 

 present a more difficult proposition. Many of our smaller 

 birds leave footprints which are so alike in size and distance 

 between imprints, that it is often impossible to decide on 

 the particular bird from the tracks alone. The same thing 

 applies to a less extent in the case of wildfowl and waders, 

 and only by careful measurement of individual tracks can 

 one make sure of the author of the footmarks. Ducks, 

 waders, and small birds exhibit no great difference in shape of 

 footprints, although they differ considerably in size, but in 

 the case of the game birds, their tracks possess individual 

 characteristics. The surroundings, too, in which tracks are 

 found, generally afford a clue to the identity of the makers. 

 In the space of one brief article, it is impossible to do more 

 than touch on the tracks of either animals or birds, but 

 possibly a few notes concerning the footprints of the latter, 

 may prove of interest. 



The track of a Pheasant is easily recognized from the very 

 straight imprint of the centre toe, and the fact that the tracks 

 are very close to an imaginary centre line, one footprint being 

 almost directly behind the other. The average stride of a 

 cock Pheasant walking is from 9 inches to gi inches, and 

 from 20 inches to 21 inches running. The stride of a Grouse 

 walking is from 5 inches to 6 inches, depending on the depth 

 of snow ; while that of a Blackcock averages 7 inches from 

 centre to centre of footprints. 



