150 
THE COMMON PTARMIGAN. 
Lagopus mutus— Leach. 
PLATE XIX. Plumage dp Winter— XX. You no. 
Telrno lagnpup, Lintusus — Ptarmigan, Pennant, Latham, 
—White Grouse* Bcwizk's Birds Common Ptarmigan, 
Selby's Illustrations, Hx. nnd Ixix. p. 433, 
Tats delicately marked liird in its summer dress, 
and of snowy white ness in winter, appears also to lie 
a native of both the European and American conti- 
nents, though it Is certainly more abundant in the 
former. It is a species con fi ued to the most alpine 
districts, and maybe said to he very generally Fprer.d 
over those cf* Europe. In Great Britain, its only 
habitation now seems to be the high mountain ranges 
in the middle of Scotland, increasing in abundance as 
the same kind of wild country reaches to the north, 
ami it also extends to the Hebrides. According to 
Pennant, and some contemporary writers, these birds 
were once found on the bills of Westmoreland and 
Cumberland; and, I believe, recollections even exist 
of a few having been seen upon the high ranges which 
appear on the opposite border of Scotland. These have 
been for some time extirpated, ami unless a few so- 
