THE ZOOLOGIST. 



FOR 1851. 



Notes on Observations in Natural History during a Tour in Norway. 

 By the Rev. Alfred Charles Smith, M.A. 



(Continued from page 2949). 



The Ptarmigan {Lagopus vulgaris). The bird which gave me the 

 greatest sport in Norway, and which I most frequently sought for the 

 sake of food, was the ptarmigan, called by the Norwegians " rype." 

 There are two species of ptarmigan in Norway, Lagopus alpinus and 

 Lagopus subalpinus ; the former of these is somewhat smaller than 

 the other species, and is the one which we have in Scotland. I 

 have killed many of both species ; and invariably found that while L. 

 alpinus ranged over the bare and barren rocks, and vast tracts of snow 

 on the highest fjeld, L. subalpinus always kept to the lower ground 

 and the sides of the mountains ; neither party encroaching on the ter- 

 ritory of the other, but preserving inviolate the bounds assigned them 

 by their specific names. In addition to its larger size, L. subalpinus 

 in its winter plumage may be easily distinguished from its congener 

 by the absence of the black feathers round the eye, and the lighter co- 

 lour of its claws : speaking from my own experience, 1 do not think 

 it so numerous as the other species. I have generally found the ptar- 

 migan concealed among the gray lichen-covered rocks on the summits 

 of the fjelds, and so closely do they resemble these rocks in colour, 

 that I could scarcely ever see them on the ground ; and sometimes 

 when the more practised eye of my guide would find them, and he 

 would point out the exact spot, it was not until after a long scrutiny 

 that I could distinguish the bird within a dozen yards of me. Fre- 

 quently we would find them on the snow itself, and many a time has 

 a large circular depression in the snow been pointed out to me, where 

 IX. B 



