164 PTARMIGANS AND HARES. 
the rocks. Mrs. Maxwell would hear their 
voices upon all sides of her, yet neither by sight 
nor ear be able to detect the exact spot from 
which any one proceeded. At length, her ear 
becoming more practised, she would decide by 
it upon a location, cover it with her gun until 
some movement would disclose the little creature 
- — a variation of aim, a touch of the trigger, and 
a specimen of unusual interest to naturalists was 
hers. 
The ptarmigan, being usually silent, is still 
more difficult to capture. This crooked name 
belongs to a pretty, graceful bird of the grouse 
family, which is remarkable for appearing in four 
different suits during the year. This unusual 
devotion to dress is not, however, due to vanity, 
but to the necessity for protection from observa- 
tion. Its summer dress is mottled rock-brown ; 
as the season advances and the snows of autumn 
fleck the rocks with white, pure snowy feathers 
appear in their sombre plumage ; and when the 
reign of winter is fully established, their presence 
is not to be detected by any spot on its ermine 
mantle, for they are not less white than it. Their 
spring costume is the same as that worn in 
autumn. Their summer food is said to be largely 
composed of grasshoppers. 
At times, during the warm months, the great 
snow-fields and barren, rocky wastes of their 
