. British birds . side of the tracks, and they showup well. Deep snow, while showing the trail plainly enough,blurs the individual tracks, and hides their characteristics ;whilst frozen or crusted snow shows little more than the clawmarks. Occasionally deep snow reveals the identity of thetrack-maker more easily than thin, soft snow. For instance,the tracks of a Magpie can be mistaken for those of otherbirds; but if one finds in the snow the plain impression of 52 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. XIV. each feather in the bhds spread tail, at the spot where itahghted, there is no chance of making a mistake
. British birds . side of the tracks, and they showup well. Deep snow, while showing the trail plainly enough,blurs the individual tracks, and hides their characteristics ;whilst frozen or crusted snow shows little more than the clawmarks. Occasionally deep snow reveals the identity of thetrack-maker more easily than thin, soft snow. For instance,the tracks of a Magpie can be mistaken for those of otherbirds; but if one finds in the snow the plain impression of 52 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. XIV. each feather in the bhds spread tail, at the spot where itahghted, there is no chance of making a mistake. Thesame thing apphes to the Pheasant, though a sure guide tothe tracks ol this game bird is the very straight middle toepreviously mentioned. Birds use their wings to aid them inwalking in deep snow, and they leave the impression of thewing-leathers both when alighting, and on rising from theground. These wing stretches as we may term them, ifclear cut, afford from their shape a clue to the GROUSE TRACKS. {Photographed by R. Clapham. To secure more contrast for purposes of photography, it ispossible to fill the footprints with fine sand or other materialdyed black, but under ideal conditions—, thin, dampsnow over a hard, smooth surface—fine detail in individualtracks is lost by so doing. In addition to leaving footmarks,ground roosting birds, such as the Grouse, leave very distinctimpressions of their roosting places. These, in the case of acovey of Grouse, are not close together, but scattered aboutat short distances from each other, the individuals composingthe covey being in touch in case of danger. VOL. XIV.] BIRD TRACKS IN THE SNOW. 53 The tracks of birds possess various characteristics of theirown. The track of the Woodcock is remarkable for its neatappearance. Once you recognize the footprints of a cock,you will never mistake them for those of any other bird.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherl, booksubjectbirds
