GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



201 



sea-level to a height of 2,000 feet, particularly in the moist peat tracts of the western and northern 

 districts. 



" It is pleasant," says Macgillivray, " to hear the bold challenge of the Gar Cock at early da-mi 

 on the wild moor, remote from human habitation. I remember with delight the cheering influence of 

 its cry on a cold morning in September, when, wet to the knees and with a sprained ankle, I had 

 passed the night in a peat-bog in the midst of the Grampians, between the sources of the Tummel and 

 the Dee." After expatiating on his misadventures and the reflections to which they gave rise, he 

 continues, " However, morning came at last, and I started up to renew my journey. It was now that 



THE ALPINE PTARMIG.\N (LagopUS Alpinu-s), IN WINTER PLUMAGE. ONE-HALF NATUK.iL SIZE. 



I got a view of my lodging, which was an amphitheatre formed of bare craggy hiUs, covered witli 

 fragments of stone and white moss, and separated by patches of peat-bog. Not a house was to be 

 seen, nor a sheep, or so much as a blade of green grass. Not a vestige of life can be found here, 

 thought I; but I was reproved by a cry which startled me. The scarlet crest and bright eye of a 

 Moor Cock were suddenly protruded from a tuft of heather, and I heard with delight tlie well-known 

 'kok, kok' of the 'blessed bird,' as the Highlanders call him." 



"The Brown Ptarmigan," continues our autlior, " feeds for tire most part upon tlie tops of heath 



( Calhma vulgaris and Erica cinered), and also picks the leaves and tender twigs of Vacciniiun myrtillus 



and Empetrum nigrum, with the young heads of Eriophorum vagi/ia/um, shoots of Galium saxatih, 



Cariccs, grasses, willows, and other plants. It is also said to eat the berries of Empeiritm nigrum, 



VOL. III. — 105 



