44 GROUSE FAMILY. 



White Grouse, or Ptarmigan. 



The Ptarmigan is one among the jery few animated beings 

 which, by choice and instinct, constantly reside in the coldest 

 Arctic deserts, and in the lofty mountains of central Europe, 

 where, as the snow begins to melt away, it seeks out its frozen 

 bed by ascending to the limits of eternal ice. Like so many 

 other animals of this inclement boreal region, this bird is com- 

 mon to both the old and new continent. It is met with in 

 Siberia, Kamtschatka, Greenland, most parts of northern Eu- 

 rope, the Highlands of Scotland, and even as far south as the 

 romantic scenes of the lakes of Cumberland, a few being still 

 seen in the lofty hills which surround the vale of Keswick, as 

 well as in Wales. This species has scarcely been met with 

 on the American continent, except on Melville Island and 

 Churchill River. 



The Ptarmigan feeds on many sorts of berries, particularly 

 the crow-berry {Empetrum nigrum) and cow-berry {Vacci- 

 nium vitis idaa), as well as the tops of the same plant ; it also 

 collects catkins, buds, and the young shoots of the pine, 

 heath, rosehips, and sometimes the different kinds of lichens, 

 which it searches out in the extensive burrows it makes 

 beneath the snow. To all this bill of frugal fare, it also 

 sometimes adds a few insects. These birds search out their 

 food chiefly in the morning and evening, and in the middle of 

 the day are observed sometimes to bask in the sun. Like the 

 Esquimaux of the human family, whose lot is cast in the same 

 cold and dreary region, they seek protection from the extreme 

 severity of the climate by dwelling in the snow ; it is here that 

 they commonly roost and work out subterraneous paths. In 

 the morning, as soon as they leave their frozen dens, they fly 

 out vigorously into the air in an upward direction, shaking the 

 snow from their warm and white clothing. While thus feeding 

 they socially call on one another at intervals in a loud tone, 

 and sometimes utter a sort of cackling cry, almost like a coarse 

 and mocking laugh. 



The nest, about the middle of June, is made in open places 



