As regards Great Britain, the Ptarmigan is now confined to Scotland; but there are traditions of its occurrence in former times on the fells of Cumberland and Westmorland. Investigations by Mr. R. Service (Zool. 1887, pp. 81-89) have shown that a few birds existed in the highest portions of Dumfriesshire and Galloway until about 1822, when the last were captured near Sanquhar, but a subsequent attempt by the late Duke of Buccleuch to re-stock that district proved unsuccessful; while on Arran, though at one time re-introduced, its presence is now doubtful. A few pairs survive on the Paps of Jura, and gradually decreasing numbers are found in Skye, Harris, and Lewis. From the vicinity of Ben Lomond northward, the Ptarmigan inhabits the "region of stones" on the higher mountain-masses, especially in Perthshire, Aberdeenshire, Invernessshire, Ross, and Sutherland. In Ireland it is unknown.

Q Q

The Ptarmigan is resident in the Lofoden Islands, and on the fells of Scandinavia above the limits of tree-growth, as well as in the loftier portions of Finland, the Kola Peninsula, and the Ural Mountains. It is found in the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps, and in small numbers in Tyrol, Styria, and Carinthia, though no longer in Transylvania; while in the Pyrenees it is tolerably abundant near the snow-line, and it is said to occur in the mountains of the Asturias and Leon. In Asia, our Ptarmigan appears to inhabit all the high mountains of Siberia down to the Altai and as far east as Kamchatka, and a bird (not in summer dress) obtained near Yokohama in Japan, at an elevation of more than 9,000 ft., has been ascribed to this species. On the lower ground of Northern Siberia and Arctic America, as well as in Greenland and Iceland, its representative is the browner L. rupestris, or some closely-allied form; but the larger L. hemileucurus of Spitsbergen is more nearly related to the Willow-Grouse.

The nest is a hole scraped in the soil and scantily lined, while the 8-10 eggs, laid late in May, have the ground-colour, as a rule, rather lighter than in those of the Red Grouse, and are smaller in size, measuring about 17 by 1'1 in. In wet or stormy seasons the various families associate or 'pack' by the beginning of August, but otherwise not till winter; they are scarcer on the extreme summits of the mountains than at a lower elevation, and birds shot in the highest situations are usually small in size. The food consists of the green tops of ling &c., with various kinds of berries. In Scotland the Ptarmigan suffers from disease, like the Red Grouse.

The male in summer has a red wattle over each eye; lores blackish; head, upper parts, long tail-coverts and flanks dark brown, finely mottled and barred with greyish-brown; tail-feathers sooty-black, tipped with white; belly white. Length 145 in.; wing 7.75 in. The plumage of the female is orange-tawny, barred with black. In both sexes and at all seasons-except for the short time that the young are in nesting plumage-the wings are white, with dark shafts to the quills. In autumn the male has upper parts slate-grey finely vermiculated with black; the female is browner. In winter both sexes are white, but the male may be recognised by his black lores and eye-stripes; old females, however, sometimes exhibit the latter. More than nine-tenths of the so-called 'Ptarmigan' sent over to our markets are Willow-Grouse in winter dress; these may be known by their larger size, and as regards the males-by the absence of any black on the lores.

There is evidence that the Pheasant had become naturalized in the south of England before the Norman invasion, though there is no mention of its existence in Scotland until 1594, or in Ireland till 1589. At the present day, however, it is generally distributed throughout the United Kingdom, and it has even been acclimatized in some of the Outer Hebrides. Little, if any, deviation from the typical P. colchicus took place up to the end of last century, when the introduction of the Chinese Ring-necked P. torquatus com

menced, which has left almost indelible marks, especially with regard to the characteristic white collar. Fertile hybrids have also been produced with the beautiful green-tinted Japanese P. versicolor, and the splendid long-tailed Chinese P. reevesi; the so-called "Bohemian Pheasant" being merely a pale buff-coloured variety.

The Pheasant owes its generic and specific names to its traditional introduction from the banks of the Colchian Phasis-the modern Rion-which enters the Black Sea near Poti; and there the pure breed is still to be found. Westward, it inhabits portions of Asia Minor, Turkey, Greece, Albania and Roumelia, but it may be doubted whether it is indigenous to the northward of the Balkans, though it is found wild in Corsica. Under greater or less protection it is met with in nearly every country of Europe, up to the southern districts of Sweden and Norway. Eastward, its range extends along the southern shores of the Caspian about as far as Astrabad, beyond which a desert cuts it off from the various species which inhabit Afghanistan, Turkestan, Mongolia, and China.

The short crow of the males may be heard in March, when fighting takes place for the possession of the hens, which, as a rule, begin to lay in April. From 10-14 eggs, measuring about 185 by 1°45 in., of an olive-brown or sometimes a pale blue colour, are deposited in a slight nest on the ground; but exceptionally squirrels' dreys and former habitations of other birds in trees are selected. Incubation lasts 23 days. Several hens will sometimes sit amicably on the same nest, as they will do with Partridges and domestic fowls; while in a few instances cock-birds have been seen incubating as well as rearing the brood. The natural food consists of grain, berries, acorns and other vegetable matter, snails, and an enormous number of wire-worms and injurious insects; ants and their larvæ forming the chief sustenance of the young. Water and cover are indispensable, though trees are not absolutely essential, for Pheasants do not constantly roost in them during the summer. When well on the wing their pace is tremendous, and they have been seen to fly nearly four miles at a stretch; they also swim with considerable facility. Hybrids have been produced with Black Grouse and several other species of gallinaceous birds. A partial assumption of the male plumage by females which are old or have ceased to breed is not uncommon.

Space does not allow of a description of the Pheasant, now seldom-if ever-found pure-bred in this country. The average weight of an old cock-bird is from 3-3 lbs., and of a hen about 2 lbs.

The Common or Grey Partridge is generally distributed throughout England, and is nowhere more abundant than in East Anglia and Hampshire. The cultivation of grain is undoubtedly favourable to its increase in numbers as well as in size, but birds which have fed on heather, whortleberries &c., in wild moorland districts are by no means inferior in point of flavour. In Scotland the Partridge is local, though plentiful on some of the low grounds; but it is not widely diffused in the Inner Hebrides, nor does it thrive in the Outer islands, to which, as well as to the Orkneys, it has been introduced. In Ireland its numbers have diminished of late years, from various causes, chiefly poaching.

In Norway this species exists under difficulties, owing to the rigour of the winter and the abundance of birds of prey, especially the Goshawk; nor can it be said to flourish in any part of Sweden. It is found in Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France