COMMON PTARMIGAN 
seriously interfere with the stalking, and certainly no right-thinking man 
who has had the privilege of watching the golden eagle in his wild 
surroundings, will grudge him the means of living. In the nesting -time 
hooded crows and gulls account for a number of eggs and chicks, the 
eggs being often very imperfectly covered when the bird leaves the nest. 
Ptarmigan suffer from the same diseases as grouse, but though in 
some seasons large numbers die, they do not as a rule appear to be affected 
to the same extent. Possibly the more remote parts of the ground on which 
they live, and the comparatively small amount of interest taken in their 
welfare, has caused the extent of their troubles to be overlooked and 
minimized. 
Hybrids . — ^As the feeding ranges of the ptarmigan and red grouse 
overlap in many places, it is not surprising that two such closely allied 
species should occasionally inter-breed, and the astonishing thing is that 
they apparently so seldom do so. During an experience of more than 
thirty years the writer has examined only two or three birds which seemed 
to be undoubted hybrids between the two species. Two of these were shot 
on high ground (3,000 to 3,500 feet) in widely different localities in Scot- 
land in company with ptarmigan, and showed the characters of both 
parents very plainly. Many of the birds supposed to be hybrids are no 
doubt only partially white red grouse, and there can be no doubt that 
true hybrids are rare. 
W. R. OGILVIE -GRANT. 
o 
97 
