WHITE GROUS, OR PTARMIGAN. 673 
are fully grown, and released from the care of their pa- 
rents, they and the old are seen to assemble in flocks of 
two or three hundred, about the beginning of October, 
when they appear to migrate a little to the south in quest 
of food, or rather from the mountains towards the plains. 
At this time they are seen in great numbers round Hud- 
son’s Bay, where they assemble for subsistence; and, as 
the store diminishes, they push their tardy migrations in 
other directions for a fresh supply. Unsuspicious of the 
wiles and appetites of man, the Ptarmigan appears often 
as tame as a domestic chicken, more particularly when 
the weather is mild ; they are allured even by crumbs of 
bread, and on throwing a hat towards them, or any strange 
object, they are so attracted by the appearance, as to 
allow of an approach so near, that a noose may be thrown 
round their necks, or, approached from behind, they may 
be knocked down with poles. Sometimes, however, they 
become wild enough to fly, but soon grow weary, and as 
tame as usual. When about to fly off to a distance from 
the hunters, they are instantly brought to settle down by 
imitating the cry of their enemy the Hawk. At times, 
trusting to the concealment of their winter livery, they 
will remain motionless upon the snow, from which they 
are still distinguishable by their more dazzling whiteness. 
They are much esteemed as food in every country where 
they occur, and are commonly taken in nets, which are 
merely made to fall over the place where they assemble, 
or to which they are driven ; and so numerous are they 
at Hudson’s Bay, that 50 or 70 are sometimes obtained 
at a single haul of a net about 20 feet square. Between 
November and April, as many as 10,000 are taken for the 
use of the settlement ; and in Europe, during the winter, 
they are carried in thousands to the market of Bergen 
in Norway, and when half-roasted or jerked, are put into 
57 
