numerous specimens from all the above-mentioned countries still I do not fail to notice that certain 
constant diffei ences exist in tlie plumage of the Iceland, Greenland, and American birds ; but I am not called 
upon to comment upon them here, since I am not writing a history of the family, but only of that one of its 
members to nhich the synonyms above given pertain. 
A certain degree of altitude appears to be necessary to the existence of this species ; yet it is remarkable 
that it never departs from the law whicb limits the Grouse family to certain high degrees of latitude. Why 
it should not be found on the snow-capped Himalayas, the Mountains of the Moon, or the regions 
of the Andes is not for me to explain. 
“ I have frequently chased it,” says Macgillivray, “ on Ronaval and other mountains in Harris ; and it is 
said to occur on Eachala in South Ulst, oji the Park and Ulg hills in Lewis, on the Cuillin and Strath 
mountains in Syke, as w'ell as in Mull and Jura. On all the elevated summits of the north of Scotland it 
is not uncommon ; and on most of those of the Grampians, but especially the great granitic and slaty masses 
from wdiich issue the sources of the Dee, the Spey, and the Tay, it may be said to be even abundant. Great 
numbers are annually killed ; but as its haunts are not so easily accessible as those of the Red Grouse, it is 
not at all likely to be exterminated. 
“ While feeding, these beautiful birds run and walk among the w'eather-beaten and lichen-crusted 
fragments of rock, from which it is very difficult to distinguish them when they remain motionless, as they 
invariably do should a person be in sight. Indeed, unless you are directed to a particular spot by their 
strange low croaking cry, which seems to me very much like that of a frog, you may pass through a flock 
of Ptarmigans w'ithout observing a single individual, although some of them may not be ten yards distant ; 
when squatted, however, they utter no sound, their object being to conceal themselves ; and if you do discover 
the one from which the cry has proceeded, you generally find him on the top of a stone, ready to spring off 
the moment you show an indication of hostility. If you throw a stone at him, he rises, utters his call, and 
is immediately joined by all the individuals around, which you see spring up one by one from the bare ground. 
They generally fly off in a loose body, with a direct and moderately rapid flight, and settle on a distant part 
of the mountain, or betake themselves to one of the neighbouring summits, perhaps more than a mile 
distant. 
“ It is delightful to wander far a^vay from the haunts and even the solitary huts of men, and, ascending 
the steep mountain, seat one’s self on the ruinous caiim that crowns its summit, where, amid the grey stones, 
the Ptarmigan gleans its alpine food. There, communing with his own heart in the wilderness, the lover 
of nature cannot fail to look up to nature’s God. I believe it, in fact, impossible in such a situation, on the 
height of Ben-na-muic-dul or Ben Nevis, for examjde, not to be sensible, not merely of the existence, but 
also of the presence of a Divinity. In that sacred temple, of which the everlasting hills are the pillars, and 
the blue vault of heaven the dome, he must be a fiend indeed who could harbour an unholy thought. But 
to know himself one must go there alone. Accompanied by his fellow's, he may see all of external nature 
that he could see in solitude, but the hidden things of his own heart w'ill not be brought to light. To me 
the ascent of a lofty mountain has always induced a frame of mind similar to that inspired by entering a 
temple ; and I cannot but look upon it as a gross profanation to enact amidst the sublimities of creation a 
convivial scene, such as is usually got up by parties from our large tow'us, who seem to have no higher aim 
in climbing to the top of Ben Lomond or Ben Ledi than to feast there upon cold chicken and ‘ mountain 
dew,’ and toss as many stones as they can find over the precipices. 
“Early in spring the Ptarmigans separate and pair. The nest is a slight hollow, scantily strew'n w'lth a 
few twigs and stalks or blades of grass. The eggs are of a regular oval form, about an inch and seven 
twelfths in length, an inch and from one to two twelfths across, of a white, yellowish-w'hite, or reddish 
colour, blotched and spotted with dark brown, the markings larger than those of the Red Grouse. The 
young run about immediately after leaving the shell, and from the commencement are so nimble and expert 
at concealing themselves that a person who has accidentally fallen in w'lth a flock very seldom succeeds in 
capturing one. On the summit of one of the Harris mountains I once haj)pened to stroll into the midst of a 
covey of very young Ptarmigans, which instantly scattered, and in a few seconds disappeared among the 
stones, while the mother ran about w'ithin a few' yards of me, manifesting the most intense anxiety, and 
pretending to be unable to fly. She succeeded so well in draw’ing my attention to herself that when I at 
length began to search for the young, not one of them could be found, althougb the place was so bare that 
one might have supposed it impossible for them to escape detection. It seems w'onderful, after all, how a 
a young bird, such as a Lapwing or Snipe, sitting motionless on the ground (w'hich it always does, unless it 
thinks it has been observed), should generally elude the most diligent search.” 
The singular changes to which this bird is subject, and the little that is understood respecting the dress 
it bears at different seasons, have induced me to give three illustrations of the bird — in winter, summer, and 
autumn ; and I am sure it w'ill be admitted that, with less, the subject could not be rendered intelligible. 
Mr. M^olf has taken the utmost pains with these figures, and acconq)anied each with appropriate scenery. 
It will be seen, then, that the birds change their dress almost as frequently as the aspects of nature on the 
