146 



GAAf/< BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



the breeding season. A native takes a stuffed skin of 

 a cock and secirc it to a stick thrust in the body. lit 

 then seeks a spot where a pair are busily occupied with 

 their marital duties, and, fastening a small net, wliiih 

 he carries with him, to the ground, places the decoy bird 

 near it. In a few moments the live male sees it and 

 comes immediately forward ready for a fight, frequently 

 seizing the counterfeit and pulling and tugging at it witli 

 great determination. While so engaged the net is 

 dropped over him, and his warfare is soon finished. 



Like the Ruffed Grouse and other members of the 

 family, the P*armigan frequently passes the night under 

 the snow, diving into it head first, and emerging again 

 in the morning with a sudden leap into the air. Neither 

 when entering or leaving the snow is a foot ever put 

 upon it, and this precaution is doubtless to prevent the 

 discovery of the bird's hiding place by any quadruped 

 who might otherwise be able to track it by following tlie 

 scent left by the feet, and pounce upon it in its sleeping 

 quarters. Doubtless many perish in such places by a 

 crust forming during the night, when the birds would be 

 imprisoned, but probably, in the high latitude, in which 

 Ptarmigan usually dwell, thaws are very infrequent 

 and the danger from that source much lessened. The 

 change from the summer dress to the pure white one of 

 winter takes place in the autumn, and is effected much 

 more rapidly than is the assumption of the summer 

 plumage. The feathers change on the abdomen first 

 and on the back and head last, the reverse of the spring 

 moult. In the far North this bird, together with the 

 caribou, constitutes the most important food supply 

 of the natives of those bleak regions, without which they 

 would frequently be in danger of starvation ; but the birds 

 abound in such numbers, and they are naturally so fear- 



e%\-y- 



