The ALPINE or GREY PTARMIGAN (_Lagopus Alpinus_ or _mutus_)--see Coloured
Plate XXVIII.--may be said to vary its plumage every month during the
summer. At all seasons, however, the belly, lower tail-covers, exterior
wing-covers, quills, and tarsi are white, the tail is black, and the
quills streaked with black. About the middle of April other black feathers
begin to make their appearance, and the entire plumage becomes, as it
were, chequered. By May the head, throat, back, and upper feathers of the
wing-covers are more or less variegated with reddish brown and white. As
the autumn approaches the feathers gradually change, and by the end of
September are of a light grey, dotted with black, and the reddish streaks
on the neck and head almost white. In the female these parts are marked
with undulating reddish and black lines, the bands being much broader and
more clearly defined. In winter the plumage of the male is entirely of a
snowy white, except the few black tail-feathers; these latter also show a
light border. Occasionally specimens are met with that have retained some
of these dark feathers through the cold season.
The Alpine Ptarmigan, or Fjall Ripa, as it is called, is met with in
Scotland, and abounds in Scandinavia, in the higher ranges of that
peninsula, up to the vicinity of the North Cape.
"The Fjall Ripa," says Professor Rusch, in a letter to Mr. Lloyd, "is
found so far south in the province of Christiansand, that its southern
limits can certainly be placed in latitude 58° 40´. It occurs wherever the
mountains rise above the limits of the dwarf birch, with steep precipices
and stone rubble. On mountains in the southern districts of Norway, at the
height of 3,000 to 3,500 feet, the sportsman may be tolerably certain of
meeting with one pair or more of these birds."
During the year the plumage varies very considerably, being almost in a
constant state of moult. By all accounts, this species puts on at least
three different dresses in the course of the year. The tail-feathers are
always black, and the male has a small black mark from the base of the
bill to the temple; but with these exceptions the winter dress of both
sexes is white.
The male begins to assume his spring dress about the middle of April, the
female a few days later, and usually completes it by the end of May or
beginning of June; the information respecting the autumnal moulting is
not so precise. In the beginning of September, according to Barth, they
have assumed the greater part of their autumnal dress, which about the
middle of the same month begins to change into the winter plumage in such
a manner that the autumn moulting is simultaneously continued.
The _Lagopus Alpinus_ is not shy in summer, and early in autumn may be
approached very closely without taking flight. "Not unfrequently, indeed,"
says Mr. Lloyd, "the fowler or wayfarer finds himself in the very midst
of a brood, without having been previously aware of its presence; but as
the season advances the several families 'pack,' and they then become very
wary, especially should they have become associated with the _Lagopus
albus_, which is of a much wilder nature, and thus they keep together
throughout the winter, and until the month of May, when they separate in
pairs. Their favourite resorts are amongst stones and shingle, where they
find shelter in bad weather, and from which in their summer plumage they
are hardly to be distinguished."
During the summer and autumn they feed on seeds and leaves, especially on
those of the crakeberry (_Empetrum nigrum_), the leaves of which are green
all the year round. When heavy storms of snow make these unattainable they
devour the tender tops of willow and dwarf birch.
"The easily satisfied appetite of the _Lagopus Alpinus_," says M. Barth,
"coupled with the fact that the crakeberry grows in such profusion
everywhere as in many places to cover the whole slope of the _fjall_, up
to near the line of perpetual snow, explains the question why these birds
never lack food in the higher regions, where one would least suppose
it possible for any living creature to find the wherewithal to sustain
existence. The crakeberry plant in some years has so many berries that the
ground looks black with them; nevertheless, in those years I never found
the berries themselves in the crop of this species, but only the stalks
and leaves. After producing fruits in such abundance, the crakeberry plant
would seem to require some time for rest, inasmuch as in the succeeding
year scarcely a berry is to be seen on it. The Ptarmigan would therefore
be very badly off if its taste only permitted it to feed on the berry and
not on the stalk--another instance of the wise foresight of Nature. During
pairing time the cry of the male is said to resemble the croak of a frog,
or the snoring of a man. The female note is a low 'ü-ack, ü-ack.'"
The nest is made among stones, or heather and grass. The eggs are
yellowish, with brown spots, and are from eight to fourteen in number. The
brood is hatched about the middle or end of June, according to the season.
The male is said to remain with his mate during the time of incubation,
but as soon as the young are hatched he leaves them with their mother
and joins his male companions on the upper part of the _fjalls_, where
his family follow him with their mother as soon as they are sufficiently
grown; both parents and brood remain together till the approach of winter,
when the various families unite in packs. Mr. Lloyd, however, doubts the
truth of the generally-believed fact of the partial separation of the male
from his family, and thinks that these packs of males may be such as have
been unable to obtain mates.
"While the female is sitting," says M. Grouland, "the male always remains
in the near vicinity of the nest, to protect her against the attacks of
foxes, weasels, and the numerous birds of prey by which she is then often
molested. He never separates from her, even after the young are hatched,
but accompanies the family everywhere, and evinces the same regard for
the mother as for the poults. When meeting a family of Fjall Ripa (the
Swedish name for these birds) in the forest, one has an opportunity of
witnessing the instinct implanted by Nature in the parents to protect
their offspring. Should a person then approach the spot where they are
collected, the male, for the purpose of drawing the enemy's attention
from them to himself, runs forward to meet him with plaintive cries and
outstretched wings, thereby endangering himself to secure the safety of
those he holds dearer than life itself."
M. Barth relates that, "When the fowler comes suddenly upon a brood of
young Fjall Ripa it is really distressing to see the mother running to
and fro before him. Should he remain stationary, her boldness gradually
increases, until at length, either from a feeling of her own weakness, or
from her fears being dispelled at seeing him make no attempts to injure
her, she by degrees retires with the same pitiable mien, and ultimately
hides herself behind a bush, waiting for the moment when she may once more
venture to call her chicks together. Ofttimes has a female Fjall Ripa
approached so near me in the way I have described that I could have killed
her with my foot."
The _Lagopus Alpinus_ is pursued by many feathered enemies, and when hard
pressed sometimes takes refuge in the hut of the Laplander or among his
reindeer. "Of all the genus _Tetrao_," says Mr. Lloyd, "this species is
the least in request in Scandinavia, but if well dressed I have always
found it very palatable, and little inferior to the _Lagopus albus_."
[Illustration: THE ALPINE PTARMIGAN (_Lagopus Alpinus_), IN SUMMER
PLUMAGE. ONE-THIRD NATURAL SIZE.]