March 29, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
391 
Ptarmigan Shooting in Greenland. 
In Greenland the ptarmigan is to be found, 
not only on the higher mountain ranges, as in 
Norway, but in all kinds of places at different 
times of the year, from the highest tops down 
to the sea level, and from the “nunatakker,” or 
peaks which rise above the surface of the in¬ 
land ice, to the outermost islands of the west 
coast. These birds, however, exhibit a prefer¬ 
ence for mountain tracts which lie at elevations 
of from i,coo feet to 2,000 feet, from which de¬ 
scend plenty of slopes of stony debris, and 
where there are lochs and tarns scattered about. 
The nest of the ptarmigan, although without 
covering, and even when it contains eggs, is 
extremely difficult to discover, and it is gen¬ 
erally situated close by a stone, a tuft of 
heather, or a small bush. In Greenland these 
birds build for the most part on the lower moun¬ 
tain slopes, but they do so also on all the larger 
and higher islands, sometimes even on the 
smaller and low-lying ones, and sometimes on 
quite flat ground near the sea. The number of 
eggs is usually eight, and rarely exceeds ten. 
.Although there are exceptions in the case of 
late broods, the young are usually hatched out 
about the beginning of July, while by Aug. 20 
they are full grown. Until they arrive at this 
stage they show a preference for somewhat low- 
lying places, where the ground is damp, and 
where there are plenty of tufts and stones, 
among which they can run about and hide 
themselves. As long as the hen is sitting the 
cock remains hard b^y, and gives timely warn¬ 
ing to its mate of the approach of danger; but 
as soon as the young are hatched out he deserts 
his family. The cocks then repair to the higher 
tops, where they live singly or in small parties 
of three or four. Not until well on in Sep¬ 
tember, when the hens and young birds have 
assumed their autumn plumage, are they re¬ 
joined by the cocks. Toward the end of August 
many of the broods repair to the mountains; 
others, however, remain in the lower country, 
and from that time until there has been a heavy 
fall of snow—which does not usually take place 
until October—the sportsman may fall in with 
ptarmigan pretty nearly anywhere. After- that 
they frequent the low, heath-clad hills and 
slopes from which the snow has been blown 
away, and later in winter, about the beginning 
of February, they are to be found on the more 
level ground, where, through the force of the 
wind, the heather has become exposed. On 
such tracts immense packs may sometimes be 
met with at that time of the year, and, should 
the cartridges hold out, a good bag may be 
made, as they generally lie well. In the after 
part of the day they remain in the neighbor¬ 
hood of such places, and in the evening return 
to the slopes. In severe cold they scrape holes 
in the snow, and as the head only is above 
the surface when sitting in these they are very 
hard indeed to make out. In summer and early 
autumn ptarmigan feed mostly at night, and 
when resting in his tent the reindeer stalker 
often hears them flying round and calling. 
When severe frost has succeeded a heavy fall 
of snow and rendered the surface of the latter 
very hard, the birds repair to ground near the 
sea and to the islands, and they may then be 
seen running about among and stiting in the 
tops of the houses. They are then very tame, and 
although _ their near neighbors be shot, the 
others wdll not rise. In early spring packs of 
fifty or a hundred birds may be seen feeding 
together, but when put up they separate into 
small lots In the great ptarmigan years, how¬ 
ever, they form packs of hundreds and even 
thousands of birds; they are everywhere, and 
are so close together that several may be killed 
at a shot, and without causing the others to 
take flight. 
During the period from the beginning of 
April until the middle of October, says the 
London Field, the Greenland ptarmigan passes 
through five changes of plumage, which may be 
described as its spring, first and second sum¬ 
mer, autumn, and winter dresses. The first of 
these is a transition stage between the winter 
and the summer plumage; the latter is assumed 
by the hens before they lay, and is retained 
until the young are full grown, in August. The 
second summer dress is not worn for long, and 
about the beginning of September the bird.t 
begin to don their autumn plumage; this last 
is also very transitory, and by the middle of 
October at latest all the ptarmigan are quite 
white._ The young resemble their mother ex¬ 
actly in their plumage, and in autumn it is not 
easy to distinguish them from the parent birds. 
Except as an adjunct to reindeer stalking, 
ptarmigan _ shooting in Greenland is hardly 
worth taking much trouble about. The best 
time of year for it is undoubtedly when the 
young birds have assumed their first or second 
summer dress: they then sit very close, and 
with a properly trained dog very pretty sport 
may be obtained in low, open cover. In windy, 
rainy, or snowy weather, however, they be¬ 
come wild; the bigger the pack the more diffi¬ 
cult they are to get within shot of, and when 
put up they fly long distances. When in Oc¬ 
tober the snow sets regularly in, the ptarmigan, 
which are then quite white, take up their abode 
in the lower slopes of stony debris, and to fol¬ 
low them about in such localities and under 
such weather conditions as then prevail necessi¬ 
tates a capability of performing gymnastic ex¬ 
ercises which is not possessed by every sports¬ 
man. After that it may be said that the birds 
spend the winter in large packs, but a good 
many individuals separate from these, and are 
to be met with in small lots, which in fine 
weather are fairly approachable. 
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