672 
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 
Hudson’s Bay, where they probably breed ; and in Nova 
Scotia, from their favorite fare, are known by the name 
of Birch Partridges. Occasionally, no doubt, they visit 
the hilly confines of the state of Maine. 
They feed on many sorts of berries, particularly the 
crow-berry (Empetrum nigrum) and cow-berry ( Vaccinium 
Vitis Idcea), as well as the tops of the same plant ; they 
also collect catkins, buds, and the young shoots of the 
pine, heath, rose-hips, and sometimes the different kinds 
of lichens, which they search out in the extensive burrows 
they make beneath the snow. To all this bill of frugal 
fare, the Ptarmigan also sometimes adds a few insects. 
They search out their food chiefly in the morning and 
evening, and in the middle of the day are observed some- 
times to bask in the sun. Like the Esquimaux of the 
human family, whose lot is cast in the same cold and dreary 
region, they seek protection from the extreme sever- 
ity of the climate by dwelling in the snow ; it is here that 
they commonly roost and work out subterraneous paths. In 
the morning as soon as they leave their frozen dens, they 
fly out vigorously into the air in an upward direction, 
shaking the snow from their warm and white clothing. 
While thus feeding they socially call on one another at in- 
tervals, in a loud tone, and sometimes utter a sort of 
cackling cry, almost like a coarse and mocking laugh. 
The nest, about the middle of June, is made in open 
places where moss abounds, or in the shelter of the low, 
creeping bushes, forming the only woody growth of these 
naked and sterile regions. The eggs, 7 to 15, are oblong, of 
a rufous yellow, from the great number of large and small 
spots of black or of reddish black with which they are cov- 
ered. From the lingering attachment of the male to his 
mate when killed, it is probable that the species may be 
monogamous, or even constantly mated. After the young 
