Ptarmigan, on the northern table, means the rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), a small alpine and arctic grouse of the high fells and tundra whose pale, close-grained flesh carries a clean, faintly bitter mountain gaminess. It is a close relative of the red grouse but a distinct bird — smaller, whiter and higher-living — and it is the classic game bird of Scandinavia, Iceland and the Alps, where it is a fixture of the Christmas table and of the autumn mountain hunt.