THE COMtfOK FTAilMIGAN. 151 
litary pairs remain on Skiddaw, or some of ite prect* 
pitoua neigtibtmrs, tiiif range of the Gi-anipians will 
be its most soutfiem British station. Anotlwr bird 
bas lately been found in this country, which vva^i be- 
fore thought to be an inhabitant of America only, 
the Latcopus rupestris or Rock Ptarmigan- From ita 
close resemblance in plumage, it has been confounded 
with the common ptarmi^n ; but one or two spe- 
cimens have lately been got in the more northern 
HigblantI districts. In both birds the plumage h of 
the moat unsullied wliite during ivinter. In summer 
they are mottled with tints of black ; in the first min- 
gled with grey and yellow, in the second with yel- 
low alone. The eize raries aleo, the last being about 
two inches \em than the Common Ptarmigan, The 
chief distinctions to be seized upon at firtt sight, are 
the less size, and the black feathers of the back be- 
ing cut into upon the edges, with palchoe of yellow 
only, contrasted ivlth the larger aisse and grey plumage 
of the other. 
They inhabit the most barren and rocky spots* 
often where nothing is to he seen but an intermin- 
able series of rugged rocks distributed in boulder 
masses, varying in size, from huge lumps to pieces 
of a few inches in diameter. Here, <luring spring 
and summer, the pairs and their broods remain 
the only inhabitants, and are discovered with the 
greatest difficulty, the mixture of the colours of the 
plumage forming a lint which harmonizes with that 
of the grey rocks around. At this season they aro 
also tame and familiar, running before the intruder, 
and uttering their peculiarly low wild call, which is 
