ment, in the menagerie of the late Duchess Dowager of Portland. This was in some measure effected by her Grace causing fresh pots of heath to be placed in the menagerie almost every day.

The flesh of the Red Grous, as in all others of this tribe, is an excellent food, but it soon corrupts. To prevent this, the birds should be drawn immediately after they are shot.

THE PTARMIGAN, OR WHITE GAME *.

These birds moult in the winter months, changing at this season their summer dress for one more warm; and, instead of having their feathers of many colours, they then become white. By a wonderful provision, every feather also, except those of the wings and tail, becomes double; a downy one shooting out at the base of each, which gives an additional protection against the cold. Towards the end of February a new plumage begins to appear; the first rudiments of the coat which the birds assume in the warm season. In answer to inquiries made on this subject, by Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Solander, and some other naturalists, of Captain George Cartwright, who resided many years on the coast of Labrador, he says, "I took particular notice of those I killed; and can aver, for a fact, that they get at this time of the year (September) a very large addition of feathers, all of which are white; and that the coloured feathers at the same time change to white. In

DESCRIPTION. The Ptarmigan is somewhat larger than a Pigeon. Its bill is black; and its plumage, in summer, is of a pale brown colour, elegantly mottled with small bars and dusky spots. The head and neck are marked with broad bars of black, rust-colour, and white. The wings and belly are white.

SYNONYMS. Tetrao lagopus. Linn.-Lagopede. BuffSnicariper. Scheffer.-Snoripa, in Lapland. Conset.-Willow Partridge, about Hudson's Bay.-Bew. Birds, p. 303.—Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. tab. 43.

spring, most of the white feathers drop off, and are succeeded by coloured ones; or, I rather believe, all the white ones drop off, and they get an entirely new set. At the two seasons they change very differently: in the spring beginning at the neck, and spreading from thence; now the change begins on the belly, and ends at the neck.

Their feet, by being feathered entirely to the 'toes, are well protected from the cold. Every morning the birds take a flight directly upward into the air, apparently to shake the snow from their wings and bodies. They feed in the mornings and evenings, and in the middle of the day they bask in the sun.

About the beginning of October the Ptarmigans assemble in flocks of a hundred and fifty or two hundred, and live much among the willows, the tops of which they eat. In December they retire from the flats about Hudson's Bay to the mountains, to feed on the mountain berries. Some of the Greenlanders believe that Ptarmigans, in order to provide a subsistence through the winter, collect a store of mountain berries into some crevice of a rock near their retreat; and it is generally supposed, that, by means of their long, broad, and hollow nails, they form lodges under the snow, where they lie in heaps to protect themselves from the cold. During winter they are often seen flying in great numbers among the rocks.

Though sometimes found in the mountains of the north of Scotland, the Ptarmigans are chiefly inhabitants of that part of the globe which lies about the Arctic Circle. Their food consists of the buds of trees, young shoots of pine and heath, and of fruits and berries which grow on the mountains. They are so stupid and silly, as often to suffer themselves, without the least difficulty, to be knocked on the head, or to be driven into any snare that is set for them. They frequently stretch out their neck, apparently in curiosity, and remain otherwise unconcerned, while the fowler takes aim at them. When frightened,

they fly off; but immediately afterwards they alight, and stand staring at their foe. If the hen bird be killed, it is said that the male will not forsake her, but may then also be killed. So little alarmed are these birds at the presence of mankind, as even to bear driving like poultry: yet, notwithstanding this apparent gentleness of disposition, it is impossible to domesticate them; for when caught they refuse to eat, and they always die soon afterwards.

Their voice is very extraordinary: and they do not often exert it except in the night. Ptarmigans are seldom found in Sweden; and one of these birds, several years ago, happening to stray within a hundred miles of Stockholm, very much alarmed the common people of the neighbourhood; for, from its nightly noise, a report was circulated that the wood, where it had taken up its residence, was haunted by a ghost. So much were the people terrified by this supposed sprite, that, for a considerable time, nothing could tempt the post-boys to pass the wood after dark. The spirit, however, was at last removed, by a gamekeeper shooting the bird.

Ptarmigans form their nests on the ground, in dry ridges; and lay from six to ten dusky eggs with reddish-brown spots.

The usual method of catching these birds is by nets made of twine, twenty feet square, connected to four poles, and propped with sticks in front. A long line is fastened to these, the end of which is held by a person who lies concealed at a distance. Several people drive the birds within reach of the net; which is then pulled down, and is often found to cover fifty or sixty of them. Ptarmigans are in such plenty in the northern parts of America, that upwards of ten thousand are frequently caught for the use of the Hudson's Bay Settlement, between November and May.

The Laplanders catch these birds by means of a hedge formed with the branches of birch-trees, and having small openings, at certain intervals, with a snare in each. The birds are tempted to feed on the buds

and catkins of the birch; and whenever they endeavour to pass through the openings, they are instantly caught.

They are excellent food; and in taste are so like the common grous, as to be scarcely distinguishable from it.

THE PARTRIDGE •

The extremes of heat and cold are alike unfavourable to the propagation of the Partridge. This bird also flourishes best in cultivated countries, living principally on the labours of the husbandman. In Sweden Partridges burrow beneath the snow; and the whole covey crowd together under this shelter, to guard against the intense cold. In Greenland, the Partridge is brown during summer; but, as soon as the winter sets in, it becomes clothed with a thick and warm down, and its exterior feathers assume the colour of the snow.

Partridges have ever held a distinguished place at the tables of the luxurious, both in this country and in France. We have an old distich:

If the Partridge had the Woodcock's thigh,
"Twould be the best bird that e'er did fly.

They pair about the third week in February; and sometimes, after pairing, if the weather be very severe, they collect together, and again form into coveys. The female lays her eggs, usually from fifteen to eighteen in number, in a rude nest of dry leaves and grass, formed upon the ground: these are of a greenish-gray colour. The period of incubation is three weeks. So closely do these birds sit on their eggs when near hatching, that a Partridge with her nest has been carried in a hat to some distance, and in confinement has continued her in

* SYNONYMS. Tetrao Perdrix. Linnæus.-Perdrix grise. Buffon.-Bew. Birds. p. 305.

cubation, and there produced young-ones. The great hatch is about the first ten days in June; and the earliest birds begin to fly towards the latter end of that month. The young brood are able to run about as soon as they are hatched, and they are even sometimes seen encumbered with a piece of the shell sticking to them. The parents immediately lead them to ant-hills, on the grubs of which insects they at first principally feed.

At the season when the Partridge is produced, the various species of ants loosen the earth about their habitations. The young birds, therefore, have only to scrape away the earth, and they can satisfy their hunger without difficulty. A covey that some years ago excited the attention of the Rev. Mr. Gould, gave him an opportunity of remarking the great delight which they take in this kind of food. On his turning up a colony of ants, and withdrawing to some distance, the parent birds conducted their young-ones to the hill, and fed very heartily. After a few days they grew more bold, and ventured to eat within twelve or fourteen yards of him. The surrounding grass was high; by which means they could, on the least disturbance, immediately run out of sight and conceal themselves. This is an excellent food for Partridges that are bred up under a domestic hen: if constantly supplied with ants' grubs and fresh water, the birds seldom fail to arrive at maturity. Along with the grubs it is recommended to give them, at intervals, a mixture of millepedes, or wood-lice, and earwigs: fresh curds mixed with lettuce, chickweed, or groundsel, should also be given them.

The affection of Partridges for their offspring is peculiarly interesting. Both the parents lead them out to feed; they point out to them the proper places for their food, and assist them in finding it by scratching the ground with their feet. They frequently sit close together, covering the young-ones with their wings; and

This circumstance was related to Mr. Montagu, by a gentleman of undoubted veracity. See Montagu, art. Partridge.