i 392 ] 



? the' hawks and owls, againd whofe attacks 



i they would otherwife find no flicker. Each 

 teather is double, that Is, a fhort one under 

 a long one, to keep them warm. In the latter 

 end of March, they begin again to change 

 their plumage, and have got their full ham- 

 mer drefs by the end of June. They breed 



■every where -along the coait, and have from 

 nine to eleven young at a time; making 

 their nefts on the ground, generally on dry 



.yidges. They are excellent eating, and fo 

 plentiful that ten thoufand have been taken 

 at Severn, York, and Churchill Forts. The 



■ method of netting or catching them, is as 

 follows : a net made of jack-twine, twenty 

 feet fquare, is laced to four long poles, and 

 ■fupported in front with the flicks, in a perpen- 

 dicular fituation; a long line is faftened to thefe 

 iupports, one end of it reaching to a place 

 where a perfon lies concealed 5 feveral men 

 drive the ptarmigans (which are as tame as 

 chickens, efpecially on a mild, fnowy day), 

 towards the net, which they run to, as foon 

 as they fee it. The perfon concealed draws 

 the line, by which means the net falls 

 down, and catches 50 or 70 ptarmigans at 

 once. They are fometimes rather wild, but 

 grow better humoured (as Mr. Graham 

 lays) by being driven about, for they feldom 

 tbrfake thofe willows which they have once 

 frequented. 



Tetrao, 



