72 The Natural History of British Game Birds 
and grain placed in the cavity formed by the neck space. As the sides of the hole 
freeze the birds reach down, topple over, and become wedged in the prison, from which 
they are unable to withdraw themselves. A few grains scattered about lead up to the 
trap. Numbers of grouse and a few Ptarmigan are caught in this way, as well as with 
common snares. 
On the Continent of Europe, and especially so in North America, Ptarmigan are 
migratory, performing journeys of hundreds of miles to escape the rigours of the 
northern winter. In Scotland they doubtless make short migrations just as grouse 
do, and these being performed at a very high elevation are not likely to be noticed 
by man. It is certain that Ptarmigan leave a high mountain and appear in consider- 
able numbers on others where the stock was known to have been reduced to vanishing 
point, so that we must accept as a fact that they make small local migrations. Thus 
a writer, doubtless Mr. Gordon, in Country Life (Feb. 9, 1907), gives his observations 
on this question : — 
"On several mountains that I know of where only a comparatively few pairs of ptarmigan are 
met with, and these very close to the summit, it would be interesting to know whether these pairs 
remain on the hill the whole year through, or whether they go to and from the other mountains 
in the vicinity. Morven (2862 ft.) in Aberdeenshire is far removed indeed from any other hills 
where the ptarmigan nest, so that the three or four dozen pairs which rear their broods on it 
must either remain there always or else fly a distance of a dozen miles at least in order to gain 
another hill where the species nest. Due westwards, Ben Avon (3800 ft.) stands about fifteen 
miles off, and if the birds emigrate at all they would probably go to this mountain, as it is con- 
nected with Morven by a chain of lesser hills, on one of which, 'the Brown Cow,' ptarmigan 
are sometimes seen, although I do not know that they nest there. Then again, due south (about 
ten miles away) lies Mount Keen (3077 ft.), but between this hill and Morven is the valley of the 
Dee, so I should think it very improbable that the birds would fly between these two hills, as to 
do so they would have to pass over cultivated lands, which they would probably be unwilling to do. 
What seems to support the theory that they do emigrate is the fact that during some seasons there 
appear to be more nesting ptarmigan on Morven than in others, and it is rather interesting that 
on this hill, and on this one alone, so far as I am aware, one or two pairs are constantly seen on 
a certain part of the hill at an altitude of not more than 1800 ft. above sea-level, while on 
Loch-na-Gar, Ben Avon, and their other strongholds, they are rarely, if ever, seen below 3000 ft. 
and certainly not below 2000 ft. I have noticed that on this particular low-lying ridge the 
ground and plants are very well suited to the ptarmigan, and another reason which may possibly 
influence them is that perhaps there are too many pairs for the ground near the summit, and that 
some of the birds have to descend lower in order to find unoccupied quarters." 
It might be supposed that since grouse and Ptarmigan frequently resort to the same 
ground, and do as it were overlap at the breeding season, 1 that they would often pair, 
but this is not the case, and in spite of the fact that both species are monogamous. 
The first supposed hybrid was one shot on Ptarmigan ground at Kintradwell, Brora, 
Sutherland, by the late Captain Houston, on September t, 1878. The bird was shot 
from a covey of grouse. The late Professor Newton agreed with me that the bird 
which is now in the Cambridge Museum possessed all the points that such a hybrid 
would exhibit, for it is of small size, and the feathers are a perfect blend of the two 
species. This bird I figured in Game Birds and Shooting Sketches (p. 183, 2nd ed.) ; 
yet on a further examination of the specimen, in conjunction with Professor Newton, I 
1 I have known grouse nests at an elevation of over 3000 feet, which is well within the Ptarmigan area. 
