350 



NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



Length, total 

 ,, of tail 

 „ of wing 

 „ of bill above 



Dimensions 

 Of the male. 

 Inch, Lin. 

 17 6 Length of bill to rictus 

 7 9 ,, of tarsus 



• 7 4 „ of middle toe . 



C 



Inch. Lin. 



. 11 Length of middle nail 



1 4^ ,, of hind toe 



. 1 4 ,, of its nail 



Inch. 



. 







. 



— R. 



Lin. 



4i 

 3 



MB^pB 



^p 5 



Male. 



[126.] 5. Tetrao (Lagopus) mutus. (Leach.) The Ptarmigan. 



Genus, Tetrao, Linn. Swains. Sub-genus (2), Lagopus, Ray. 

 Ptarmigan. Penn. Brit. Zool., i., p. 350, pi. 57; upper figure. 



Lagopus mutus. Leach. Brit. Mus. Idem, Gen. Zool., ii., p. 287 ; omitting synonymes. 

 Tetrao lagopus. Sab. (Capt.) Suppl. Parry's First Voy., p. cxcvii. Sab. (J.) Frankl. Journ., p. G82. 

 Richards. App. Parry's Second Voy., p. 350. 



According to Captain Sabine, this bird inhabits the islands lying on the south- 

 west side of Baffin's Bay, as well as the loftiest mountains in Scotland. I have 

 never had the fortune to meet with it myself in the fur-countries ; but a specimen, 

 in summer plumage, sent to Sir John Franklin from Churchill River, was iden- 

 tified by Joseph Sabine, Esq., with the Scotch Ptarmigan, — thus establishing it 

 as an inhabitant of the American continent. I have not been able to trace that 

 specimen ; and I am informed that the only authentic examples from the New 

 World are now in the possession of Lord Stanley, to whom they were presented 

 by Mr. Sabine. The Ptarmigan is an inhabitant of high hills, where it keeps 

 near the snow line : the Rock Grouse frequents sub-alpine districts and more 

 level stony tracks and moors*. — R. 



* Scotch specimens, killed on the 1st of October on the mountains of Cairngorm, and presented to me by Sir George 

 Sitwell, Bart., have the whole dorsal plumage, scapulars, tertiaries, neck, breast, and sides under the wings, marked 

 with very fine zig-zag lines of pitch-black and brownish-grey ; a few reddish-orange bars appearing on the neck only 



