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portions of the Alps." According to Naumann (Vog. Deutschl. vi. p. 411), it is extremely 

 numerous in Glarus, Graubiinden, Appenzell, Tessin, and Unterwalden, as also on the St. 

 Gothard and the Grimsel, less common in the Alpine regions of the Tyrol, Karnthen, Styria, 

 and Salzburg, and but rare in the high mountains of Austria and Wurtemberg, where it is 

 sometimes found as far as Nagold, on the edge of the Black Forest. 



To the eastward the present species is found throughout Northern Siberia. Von Middendorff 

 (Sib. Reise, p. 191) says that it was the only species of Grouse which is found as far north as 

 the mainland extends in the Taimyr district, and in the winter it ranges southward at least as 

 far as Turuchansk, in 66° N. lat. He did not personally meet with it in South-eastern Siberia ; 

 but he believes that it occurs in the Stanowoi Mountains. Dr. Radde (Reis. im Slid, von Ost- 

 Sib. p. 295) says that he met with the present species, at an altitude of from 8800 to 9700 feet, 

 when ascending the Munku-Sardik in June and July ; and when ascending the Sochondo in 

 July 1856, he saw several coveys at from 7500 to 8000 feet altitude. Dr. Dybovvski says (J. f. O. 

 1873, p. 98) that it is much commoner in the Tunkisch than in the Baikal Mountains, and when 

 on his way to the Kosogol lake he saw numbers above the limits of wood-growth. Messrs. 

 Temminck and Schlegel seem to think that a Ptarmigan may occur in Japan, as they saw two 

 figures of birds resembling the present species in a collection of Japanese drawings. 



The Ptarmigan frequents the more elevated rocky and barren localities, where it replaces 

 the Scotch Grouse and Willow-Grouse ; and it seldom or never descends to the lowlands, where 

 these latter species have their home, unless driven down by stress of weather in search after 

 food. The tracts of ground over which it is distributed are much more extensive and more 

 inaccessible than those lowland ranges which the Red Grouse and Willow-Grouse frequent ; and 

 hence the present species appears somewhat less numerous, though doubtless it is scarcely less 

 so, at least than the Willow-Grouse. Should an intruder make his appearance in the range of 

 the Ptarmigan, or when a bird of prey appears, they squat and remain motionless, trusting 

 chiefly to the similarity of their plumage to the ground and the herbage to enable them to 

 escape unseen. Should one utter his croaking note, he is generally on a stone ready to take 

 wing at a moment's notice ; and when he rises and calls, all the rest of the covey join him. So 

 close do they squat, and so well does their plumage harmonize at all seasons of the year with 

 the surroundings, that one may walk through a covey without being aware of the close proximity 

 of a single individual. In the month of July, according to Macgillivray, and in October, 

 according to Barth and other Scandinavian naturalists, the Ptarmigans begin to collect in 

 packs and are found in lower altitudes than in the summer season. Barth (J. f. O. 1869, 

 p. 93) says that "they then not unfrequently visit the sea-coast, and, being white, are very con- 

 spicuous ; they appear quite bewildered, and easy to approach within gunshot, whereas when the 

 ground is covered with snow they are shy, and take wing before one has arrived within any 

 thing like gunshot-range. They fly tolerably swiftly, in a loose irregular body, their mode of 

 flight resembling that of the Red Grouse, and when once on the wing will, generally fly some 

 distance before settling. Their call-note is a harsh croak, not unlike the cry of a frog, and it is 

 frequently uttered as an alarm-call. The food of the present species consists chiefly of the 

 tender twigs and leaves of JEmpetrum nigrum ; but Macgillivray says that the crops of specimens 

 he examined contained a large quantity of fresh green twigs of Calluna vulgaris, Vaccinium 



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