Ptarmigan

“ L. mutus, the Ptarmigan or Fjeld-riporre, is in summer blackish-brown with grey and rufous markings, the median tail-feathers, abdomen, and most of the wings being white. The back becomes grey in autumn. The female is reddish-buff, barred with black. In winter both sexes are white, with black and white rectrices, and in the male with black lores. Nearly all the so-called Ptarmigan in English poulterers' shops are Willow Grouse. The haunts are on the higher parts of mountain-ranges, where stony ground abounds, but somewhat lower altitudes are sought after the breeding season. ”

“ The ptarmigan frequents wild, mountainous districts, and builds its nest upon the open hillsides, among the coarse grass and mossy rocks. The nest is a little cluster of twigs and grass, and in it the ptarmigan lays ten or a dozen reddish eggs spotted with brown, which are not easily distinguishable from the twigs and grass among which they lie. The summer plumage of the bird itself is a brown tortoiseshell, so similar in colour to the ground upon which it makes its nest that it is very difficult to see. ”

“ Frequently we would find them on the snow itself, and many a time has a large circular depression in the snow been pointed out to me, where the Ptarmigan has been lying and pluming himself in his chilly bed. He is a noble bird, free as air, and for the most part uninterrupted in his wide domain; he can range over the enormous tracts of fjeld, seldom roused by a human step, and still more seldom hunted by man. ”

“ Ptarmigan are remarkable birds in that they are in an almost continual state of molting, nearly every month in the year showing them in different stages of plumage, ranging from the snow-white winter dress to the summer one in which reddish-brown prevails on Willow Ptarmigan and a black and gray barred effect predominates on the other species. Notice that they are feathered to the toes, in winter the feathers on the toes growing dense and hair-like, not only protecting the toes from the cold but making excellent snowshoes which enable them to walk with impunity over the lightest snow. ”

“ Now, then, he ascends a little, wheels in short abrupt curves, presently rushes down headlong, assumes the horizontal position when close to the ground, prevents himself from being dashed against it by expanding his wings and tail, thrusts forth his talons, and grasping a poor, terrified ptarmigan that sat cowering among the gray lichens, squeezes it to death, raises his head exultingly, utters a clear, shrill cry, and, rising from the ground, pursues his journey. ”

“ The Common Ptarmigan is now resident in the Lofoden Island, in Scandinavia, on the Ural and the Altai ranges, etc., and also on the Alps and the Pyrenees. The winter plumage is pure white, except a black band above the eyes of the male, and some black on the under feathers of the tail. In both sexes the wings are always white, but have dark shafts to their quills. In summer the males are predominantly grayish brown above, with blackish head, shoulders, and breast, with white belly, with black tail-feathers tipped with white. In the female a tawny color predominates. ”

“ Another dish, which will doubtless shock many Europeans, is the entrails of ptarmigans. In this case they do not confine themselves to the stomachs, but devour in a twinkling the viscera with their contents. The remainder of the ptarmigan they sell to the traders for a penny or less (5 to 8 öre) . This [92] is the reason why, in Greenland, one never sees ptarmigan whole, except those one has shot oneself.
One time when we went on a hunting expedition up the Ameralik fiord, and had the Greenlander Joel with us, he devoted a day to tearing the entrails out of all our ptarmigan ”

“ Ptarmigan are found all round the Arctic circle, although some people think the American variety a different species. The birds sold in the game-dealers’ shops as ptarmigan are nearly always willow grouse—the rype of Norway. There the ptarmigan is the Fjeldrype, and in Sweden it is the Fjallripa. Its scientific title is Lagopus mutus. The ptarmigan is monogamous, and has from 8 to 15 eggs. Neither nests nor birds are easy to find in the breeding season, and on the most open spaces, where there is no covert whatever, the bird frequently escapes observation ”

“ A few days later the Dummy discovered a string of ptarmigan hanging beside the rear door of a restaurant, and, desiring to offer June some delicate little attention, he returned after dark and removed them. As ptarmigan were selling at five dollars a brace, he was careful to protect the girl ”

“ It is a mistake to say that they feed upon heather; the majority of ptarmigan live winter and summer above the highest altitude of the heather. The number of birds is nowhere very great, nor could they be expected to increase very much; for the vegetation on which they mostly live is scanty on their chosen rocks, and is indeed the moss which grows on these apparently almost bare surfaces. Were numbers large, ptarmigan would be more valued as game birds, because of their greater activity in flight than the red grouse. ”

“ After that my keeper and I scrambled about on the high hills, after ptarmigan, an odd grouse, a hare or two. One day I managed to get six brace of ptarmigan and some dotterel—and very pretty birds they were.
Ptarmigan are curious birds on the Glenshee hills, the ground being so desperately rough it needed all your wits to walk and take care of your gun, marking down the birds as they fluttered up like pigeons.
It was useless to shoot at a bird unless you could make sure to kill him outright, as the wounded birds crept into holes amongst the rocks like rabbits. ”

“ The ptarmigan in winter has a light coloration in harmony with the environment of snow, while in its summer plumage it is tinted and mottled in harmony with the color effects of the lichen-covered stones among which it spends a great deal of its time. Young unfledged plovers are spotted in such a way as very accurately to resemble the beach pebbles among which they remain for protection. ”

“ Not even the Arctic ptarmigan is hardier in braving frost and snow and wintry darkness. When in full plumage he is a beautiful bird, with a long, firm, sharp-pointed tail, which in walking is slightly raised and swings sidewise back and forth with each step. ”

“ Far below the pass that connects Mount 110 Siyeh to the snow-giants Matahpi and Going-to-the-sun, three male white-tailed ptarmigan emerge from their night’s huddle within a snowbank and step out to peck at an exposed mat of willow. Ptarmigan, the only birds on the winter tundra, wear white plumage in this season, helping to camouflage them in the snow, just as their mottled brown summer plumage makes them difficult to detect among bare rocks. There are few predators here to hunt them now, but they move with habitual slowness ”

“ But a late and prolonged winter storm may drive him and his neighbor the rosy finch a mile or so down the slopes. The first fine day he is back again to the happy heights. The ptarmigan lives in the heathery growths among huge rocky débris. Much of the winter-time he shelters himself in deeply penetrating holes or runs in the compacted snow. His food consists of the seeds and buds of alpine plants, grasses, and insects. His ways remind one of a grouse, though he is a smaller bird. ”

“ With legs and feet heavily feathered and sharp claws to scratch for food beneath the snow, the ptarmigan live at truce with winter. When blizzards rage between the peaks, they nestle together in snow dens, beyond the reach of the winds. Ptarmigan hens winter lower in taller willow thickets, but the males prefer to take their winter as high as possible. ”

“ It is a perfectly distinct species from the Allen Ptarmigan, which is the only other species found on the island. They inhabit the higher ranges and hills in the interior of the island, where they are quite abundant. They build their nests on the ground under protection of overhanging bushes. The eggs are laid in a hollow in the dead leaves, sometimes with a lining of grasses. The eggs do not differ in size or appearance from those of the Rock Ptarmigan. Data.--Newfoundland, June 3, 1901. Nest a slight hollow in the moss, besides a fallen stump; lined with a few feathers. ”

“ The Ptarmigan Ptarmigan are generally walked up by a line of guns when a party can all be got to ascend to the high tops inhabited by these birds, Alpine hares, and little life besides, except for the eagles, which greatly appreciate both bird and mammal. The eagle has been known to strike down a ptarmigan in the air, although it probably catches them generally on the ground. The reason why dogs are not much used for ptarmigan is that the almost constant foot scent of hares leads to false pointing or else to hunting their lines ”

“ As the spring approached, they began to migrate to the north; so that in the summer scarcely a Ptarmigan was to be seen south of Lockhart River, on their usual line of march to that post. In February, 1859, Mr. MacFarlane found them numerous to the very borders of the wooded country, along the banks of the Lower Anderson.
Mr. Donald Gunn states that this Ptarmigan is very seldom to be seen south or west of Lake Winnipeg, but is found in all the country north and east of that lake during the winter season. ”

“ Among the crags Harriet and I kept sharp watch for mountain sheep, but we did not see any. We were fortunate enough, however, to see a flock of ptarmigan. These birds were huddled in a hole which narrowly escaped being trampled on by Top. They walked quietly away, and we had a good look at them. They were almost white; in winter they are pure white, while in summer they are of a grayish brown. At all times their dress matches the surroundings fairly well, so that they have a protective coloring which makes it difficult for their enemies to see them. ”

“ For such ground-dwelling birds as the white-tailed ptarmigan, camouflage is an important survival adaptation. The ptarmigan changes its plumage to match its surroundings: it is white in winter, speckled in summer. Moving slowly and refraining from flight, it is less likely than more-active birds to be detected by sharp-eyed, motion-conscious predators. ”

“ At Kaolak (July 21-27, 1951) they were common; ten pairs of adults (males and female) were within a one mile radius of our camp. The families of young were in groups of 1-3-4-6-8-9-10-11-14. One group consisted of one male, two females and four young. While on a flight from Kaolak to Point Barrow (July 27, 1951) we observed several ptarmigan on the tundra. At Gavia Lake (Aug. 21, 1951) ptarmigan were in groups or singles as follows: two adult singles, group of seven young and one adult, group of four young and one adult and one group of five young and two adults. ”

“ The icy regions of both hemispheres, and the summits of lofty mountains, are their domain. The snow is their favourite resting-place; they delight in rolling in it, and turning it over in search of food, or forming holes in which they pass the night to take shelter from the storm.
Fig. 161.—Common Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus, Gould) , Summer and Winter Dress.
The colour of Ptarmigans is perfectly suited to the northern solitudes they inhabit. Their plumage is of a brilliant white, save one line of black on the head, and some tail-feathers of the same colour. This is their winter costume. ”

“ At the northern limit of its range, north of the arctic circle, the ptarmigan inhabits the fells and level country; in Europe it is everywhere confined to the higher slopes of lofty mountains; in other words, wherever found—and it ranges as far south as the mountains of Spain—it still has an arctic climate. The bird exists ‘islanded’ on high mountains, separated from the rest of its kind by wide spaces of low-lying country as impassable to it as the sea. ”

“ With one exception—the white-tailed ptarmigan—they range the highest in summer of all Colorado birds. They are never seen below timber-line in that season, and are not known to breed below twelve thousand feet; thence to the tops of the highest peaks they hatch and rear their young. In August old and young swarm over the summits picking edible insects from the snow, while in winter they descend to timber-line, where most of them remain to brave the arctic weather and its frequent storms. ”

“ It is a constant attendant on the flocks of Ptarmigan in their spring migrations to the northward. It builds its nest on a tree, of sticks, grass, and feathers, and lays two white eggs. When the hunters are shooting Grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the report of the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird being killed, to pounce down upon it, though it may be unable from its size to carry it off. It is also known to hover round the fires made by the natives at night. ”

“ When the winter clothes his dwelling in a garb of snow, he arrays himself in the purest and most beautiful white; when the summer sun melts away the snow, and the grey rocks appear, he, too, puts on his coloured dress, and assimilates himself once more to his beloved rocks. But the young Ptarmigans are my especial favourites: I have caught them of all ages; some apparently just emerged from the egg, others some weeks older; they are remarkably pretty little birds, with their short black beaks and their feathered toes ”

“ Another adult male and female were at the side of a young bird held in a trap. The female first left the young and fluttered over the vegetation for 40 feet and the male flew out of the area. Four other young were flushed 30 feet from the trap that held the captured ptarmigan. On July 17, while walking through a wet meadow of grasses and sedges, we flushed a male, female and four young (150 mm in length) . The female crawled through vegetation for 30 feet and then rose into the air. At this same moment four young left the ground. ”