A Marauder
appro MONGST birds for protection. If the white plumage in the Ptarmigans winter serves to conceal it amid the snow, form an interest- the grayish-mottled hue of the summer ing group, be- feathers serves admirably to hide the bird longing to the as it sits motionless amid the stones and Grouse family. broken ground that surround. it. The The Common Ptarmigan moults twice or even thrice in Ptarmigan pre- the year. But even the kindly protection sents us with a of Nature serves not to secure a complete singular change of plumage adapted to immunity from attack. The eagles and the alteration of the seasons. The male falcons will swoop down on the flock of in winter becomes perfectly white, with Ptarmigan in summer and winter alike, the exception of a black patch behind the and will bear off its members to the eye; certain of the feathers of the wings mountain nest, leaving a terrified flock of and tail being black likewise. Both sum- birds behind to bewail the unkindly fate mer and winter plumage serve the bird of their neighbor and friend. Davidson Knowler WHAT WILL HER FORTUNE BE?
