162 



6 



myrtillus, and Empetrum nigrum, the largest fragments not exceeding five twelfths of an inch in 

 length. Leaves and twigs of Vaccinium vitis-idcea, Salioc herbacea, seeds of various Juncece and 

 Cyperacece, and other plants, with berries in autumn, also form part of their food, which is thus, 

 in fact, for the most part, the same as that of the Eed Grouse. The Grey Ptarmigan, then, is a 

 bird which, feeding on vegetable substances containing comparatively little nourishment, intro- 

 duces a large quantity at a time, like a ruminating quadruped, and gradually digests it while 

 reposing. In feeding, it walks about among the shrubs and herbage, where it is little liable to 

 be interrupted, so that it has time to select fragments of the proper size and quality. The food 

 is collected in the crop, gradually pounded in the gizzard, where it is mixed with the solvent 

 juice of the proventriculus, further diluted in the duodenum, and deposits the chyle along the 

 intestine, whence it is carried off by the lacteals. As (perhaps on account of its being less 

 nutritious than animal or farinaceous matter) it requires to pass rapidly along, the parts that 

 have not been assimilated undergo a further elaboration and absorption in the very large cseca, 

 which are appendages to the intestine, performing the same office as they, but into which the 

 coarser fibres do not enter, being carried directly into the rectum." 



The Ptarmigan breeds at great altitudes in the mountains, its nest being a mere depression 

 in the soil, generally under shelter of a stone or low bush, and sparingly lined with grass bents 

 or thin twigs ; and the eggs closely resemble those of the Eed Grouse — so much so, that I can 

 give no character by which they can always be distinguished. As a rule, however, the markings 

 are a trifle larger and bolder. So soon as the young are hatched they are able to run, and at the 

 least appearance of danger hide with great celerity, and it is almost impossible to find them. 



The present species is not by any means so suitable for the table as the Eed Grouse ; but 

 large numbers are sent to our markets, especially during the winter season, when they come 

 over from Scandinavia with Willow-Grouse. In Scotland the common Ptarmigan is by no means 

 free from that scourge of the moors, the Grouse-disease ; and Lord Lilford informs me that in 

 his shootings in Inverness-shire they suffer from this disease quite as severely, in proportion to 

 their numbers, as the Eed Grouse. 



The present species is the last of the Ptarmigans, or Grouse having feathered feet, found in 

 the Western Palsearctic Eegion, there being altogether only six species known, viz. : — 



L. albus, fall particulars respecting which are given in the present work. It inhabits the lowlands of the 

 Northern Palsearctic and Nearctic Regions. 



L. scoticus, which is restricted to Great Britain. 



L. mutus, full particulars respecting which are given above. 



L. rupeslris, which inhabits Greenland, Iceland, and Arctic America, particulars as to its range being given 

 in the present work. I find that there is another name, which is probably a synonym of this species, 

 viz. Lagopus dispar, Ross, Voy. of Disc. ii. p. 168 (1819). Ross describes the male as "white/' and 

 the female as " variegated white, black, and rusty rufous," and says that a few were seen in the Waygat 

 and in Jacobs's Bight. 



L. hemileucurus, Avhich inhabits Spitzbergen only. When Mr. Sharpe and I figured and described this 

 species in a former part of the present work, we laid great stress on the large amount of white on 

 the tail. Since then I have examined a far larger series, both of this and other Ptarmigans, and 

 find that the difference in size is perhaps the best character, as Mr. A. B. Brooke has sent me several 

 specimens of Lagopus mutus from the Pyrenees for examination, one of which has quite as much white 



