390 
MISCELLANY, 
parents, which he reluctantly did. Never had I felt more happy'than I did when 
I saw the young Plovers run off, and hide under cover of the stones. —Audubon’s 
Ornithological Biography. 
Notes and Queries respecting the Ptarmigan. —On the 15th instant my 
attention was attracted to the shop of Mr. Fordham, poulterer, Berry-Street, 
by a vast number of white birds. I at first imagined they were Pigeons; but on 
going up to them I found, to my surprise, that they were Ptarmigans. In reply 
to a question, I was informed that they came from Norway, and that the enor¬ 
mous number of 2,572 had come to Liverpool. They were packed in boxes, in 
a completely frozen state. One was purchased by a gentleman, and presented to the 
Museum of the Royal Institution. In skinning it, I found the ice in scales where 
the legs are attached to the body; and on examination I found the intestines 
entirely frozen. I took the heart, and laid it open ; the ice could be perceived in 
small particles all through it. On comparing the bird with Selby’s description of 
the Scottish Ptarmigan ( Lagopus mutus , Leach), I found it to be a female, being 
destitute of the black streak before and behind the eye. Selby says,— 44 The female 
in Winter plumage differs from the male in being without the black streak before 
and behind the eye, and also in wanting the red fringed membrane above the 
eye/' The same writer states that the 44 bill and claws are black.” My specimen 
differs from his description in having a broad red fringe above the eye; but what 
makes me doubt the black streak being a sexual difference, is, that out of all the 
number I saw on the 19th (about 200), only one had the black streak. (Do the 
females congregate in Winter ?) They differ also from Selby’s description in 
having the upper surface of the shafts of the primaries only partially black, 
the lower part as far as the ends of the coverts, about three-fourths of an inch at 
the points, and all the under surface, being pure white. The claws of the bird 
before me, where they are exposed, are of a clear horn colour, being only 
black where they are covered by the feathers. The tail likewise differs from 
Selby’s description in having the end white. Is this a different species ? or 
have they undergone a greater change from the severity of the Winter ? The 
measurements of my specimen and those given by Selby agree. 
Should the above, or any part of it, be considered worthy of a place in The 
Naturalist , its insertion will oblige.— Henry Johnson, Seal-Street, Liverpool, 
March 20, 1839. 
The Common Fowl a Mouse-eater.— If the following incident is not of 
frequent occurrence, it may be interesting to your readers. The other day in going 
along a road near a farm yard, my attention was arrested by a large flock of hens 
pursuing with great avidity a common Field Mouse. Every now and then, as 
opportunity offered, they made a peck at it, but this produced little impression on 
the object of their pursuit, and he at length succeeded in getting into a crevice 
