jo The Natural History of British Game Birds 
from the nest she half runs and half flutters over the ground, and is immediately joined by 
the cock, who seems to be thrown into some excitement at her leaving the nest, and runs 
in front of her as if to check her retreat, bowing his head up and down. Both parents 
keep up a melancholy croak. 
The young are more active than young grouse, and fly very soon after being hatched. 
They eat quantities of young grass points and juicy blaeberry leaves broken up by the 
parent ; but of their other foods I cannot speak with certainty. Insect life, on which we 
should imagine they would largely depend, is not very plentiful on the high grounds until 
July. Both old and young are very subject to attacks of vermin of all sorts. Foxes 
never cease hunting them, and hoodie-crows break the eggs as well as kill the nestlings. 
Common gulls, too, in Aberdeenshire, destroy a good many nests. 
Mr. Seton Gordon says : 1 — 
"At the present date of writing (June 25th), the majority of the ptarmigan are just beginning 
to brood on a second clutch of eggs, their first having been destroyed by the snowstorm three weeks 
ago ; and apparently the second clutch consists of the same number of eggs as the first, that is to 
say, from six to eight. The hen lays an egg every day, and does not begin to sit until the whole 
clutch has been deposited, half covering the eggs when away during the day with lichen and moss. 
She hides them very imperfectly, however, and often they fall a prey to the hoodie or common 
gull. These birds had a grand feast at the beginning of June, after the snow melted and left 
exposed the deserted nests, and I found in a short time three nests with every egg sucked clean ; 
what was rather unusual was the fact that the thieves had not even troubled to remove the eggs to 
a secluded spot. They usually do this if the rightful owner is still in possession, carrying the eggs 
in their bills to some stream or pool, as they seem to prefer the egg when it is helped down by 
a draught of spring water. As a rule, the ptarmigan nest above the heather-line, but on the 
Cairngorms on June 23rd I found a nest among long heather in precisely the position a grouse 
would choose, about 2800 feet above sea-level. Apparently some of the birds have given up 
the idea of a second clutch, as I saw a pack of nine fly off together." 
The cock bird is sometimes very daring in defence of his family. In Iceland the 
cocks almost invariably fly straight at your head as if to strike you, just swinging 
off at the last moment as you raise your hand. No doubt many pay the penalty of 
their courage at the mouths of stoats and foxes. Mr. Seton Gordon states 2 that on 
disturbing a covey of young Ptarmigan the mother "flew right up to my feet and 
looked up at me appealingly." The young are not full grown until the end of August, 
and then form into coveys with the parents. Golden eagles have now become so 
plentiful in the deer forests that very few Ptarmigan would be left were it not for 
the broken nature of the rocks found at intervals along the hilltops. The Ptarmigan 
fly as fast as they can when flushed by birds of prey, and with a sudden header they 
disappear in a moment around and under the stones. I saw an eagle on Dundonald 
forest chase a covey of Ptarmigan into a mass of rocks. As soon as his quarry 
vanished the bird of Jove alighted on a rock and kept looking eagerly from left to 
right, as if expecting them to come out again. After waiting a few seconds he seemed 
to recognise that he was no ferret for routing amongst holes, and sailed majestically 
away. 
The grouse-shooter and the deer-stalker look upon the chase of the Ptarmigan from 
1 Country Life, July 6, 1907. * Birds of Loch and Mountain, p. 50. 
