254 CLASS AVES. 



hension. Rocks, and the mountainous platforms which are 

 elevated above woody regions, are their habitual sojourn 

 during summer. In winter they descend into the valleys 

 which cross between the high Alps, but never appear in the 

 plains except when the season is extremely rigorous and the 

 cold intense. When the mountains are enveloped in fogs, 

 and the atmosphere announces snow or heavy rain, the unin- 

 terrupted cries of the ptarmigan are heard ; but they are 

 mute when the sky is serene, and take their flight in silence. 

 During the powerful heat of a summer's day, they are 

 careful to conceal themselves, and then are neither seen nor 

 heard. Crouching beneath the tufts of the rhododendron, 

 which flourishes in these Alpine regions, they never attempt 

 to fly, except when one approaches neai- enough to walk upon 

 them. They then set off" abruptly, with a noise of their 

 wings, which is even alarming to the traveller, who is thread- 

 ing in silence through those solitary mountains. These birds 

 are wilder in proportion to the coldness of the weather, and 

 fly away at the slightest noise. They run very fast, and their 

 flight, though sustained but for a short time, is not so slow 

 as might be presumed from the weight of the bird. In winter 

 it is very difficult to perceive them on the ground, when they 

 are crouched against a heap of snow, and also in summer, 

 when they are under the tufts of the rhododendron, or even 

 on the naked rocks. The colour of their plumage in these 

 different seasons often saves them from the pursuit of the 

 fowler, and withdraws them from the piercing eye of the kite, 

 who watches them incessantly ; but it is not true, as many 

 naturalists assure us, that they dig deep holes in the snow, to 

 withdraw there in case of accident, or to shelter themselves 

 from the ardent rays of the sun ; these birds only scrape the 

 snow for the purpose of getting at the plants below it, which 

 serve for their subsistence, for which operation nature has 



