■196 cassell's book of birds. 



acquire the same tints as their parents. The unusually large claws possessed by the members of 

 this group are shed, like those of their congeners, when the plumage is changed. The Ptarmigans 

 inhabit both America and the Eastern Hemisphere as far northward as vegetation extends, and have 

 occasionally been seen even at 80° north latitude. In a southerly direction they are met with 

 as far as the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Central Europe. 



These birds live on open ground, and feed upon twigs and leaves of shrubs, berries, grasses, and 

 seeds j their flight is quick, strong, and prolonged. They walk and run very nimbly, and often escape 

 from their pursuers by hiding under shrubs or among heather, when much alarmed they take wing, 

 but even then never resort to the woods for shelter. Their eggs, which are numerous, are spotted 

 with dark brown. The young run about as soon as they leave the egg, and follow their mother in 

 search of food. At the approach of winter several families frequently associate together. 



THE WILLOW PTARMIGAN. 



The Willow Ptarmigan {Lagopus albus) is about fifteen inches long and twenty-four inches 

 and a half broad ; its wing measures seven inches and a half, and the tail four inches and a quarter , 

 the female is one inch shorter and narrower than her mate. During the winter the plumage of this 

 beautiful bird is of a dazzling white, except the fourteen outer tail-feathers, which are black, with white 

 roots and edges ; the six largest quills have an oval brownish black streak in the outer web. As the 

 pairing season advances, the head and nape become reddish brown, spotted and streaked with black, 

 the feathers on the shoulders, bgck, and rump, and those in the centre of the tail are black, edged with 

 white, and have lines of reddish brown or yellow over half their surface ; the tail-feathers become paler 

 and lose their light edges. The primary quills remain white as in winter, while the secondaries turn 

 brown ; the face and throat are usually of unspotted reddish brown ; the head, upper breast, and 

 thighs of a reddish hue, dotted and lined with black; the feathers of the middle part of the breast arc 

 black, spotted with reddish brown and white, and those of the belly and legs entirely white. The 

 lower tail-covers are black, marked with reddish brown and yellow, and the corners of the mouth are 

 decorated with white spots. The above colours often vary in their shades, and in the course of the 

 summer become much paler. The female is always lighter in hue than her mate, and acquires her 

 summer plumage before the male. When the feathers begin to darken, the comb on the brow 

 becomes higher and of a reddish tinL 



Many observers have assumed that there are two moulting seasons — the first, which occurs in 

 autumn, extends to the whole of the feathers ; during the second, which takes place in spring, the 

 smaller feathers alone are changed ; but the winter clothing does not immediately replace the summer 

 dress, nor does that at once supersede the winter suit On this account it has been supposed by 

 some that the Ptarmigan moults four times in the year. American observers, on the contrary, think 

 they have perceived that the smaller feathers at least are not replaced, but simply changed in colour. 

 According to Richardson, "The second change is occasioned, not by the reproduction of feathers, 

 but by the coloured ones becoming white, the process commencing on their tip. This alteration 

 takes place in scattered feathers, which at the same time lengthen, and in a week or ten days the 

 change is complete ; spotted specimens undergoing the change may be distinguished from spring 

 ones by the worn state of the tarsal feathers." 



This Ptarmigan is spread throughout the northern parts of both the New and Old World, although 

 it is not found everywhere in the same numbers. It is very plentiful in Scandinavia, and also in 

 Finland, and Russia, and common in the eastern coasts of the latter country, and in many parts of 

 Siberia. Raddc did not meet with it about the Lake of Baikal or the Amur, and therefore concludes 

 that it does not stay there during the summer ; but he found it in Eastern Sa3'an, at a height of 



