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.] THE RED GROUSE, BROWN PTARMIGAN, OR GAR COCK.