FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 123 



prise, all birds from Morzhovoi Bay, only a few miles across from 

 False Pass, certainly belonged to alascensis, while those from 

 Unimak Island just as definitely belonged to the island group 

 (muriei)." 



Beals and Longworth (field report, 1941) reported numerous 

 ptarmigans on Unimak from February 26 to April 10, in flocks of 

 25 to 300 birds. They noted, on March 6, at False Pass as fol- 

 lows: "Large flocks of 300 or more birds each flew about the 

 alders back of the cannery. We saw several flocks of 75 to 100 

 birds in Sourdough Flats and vicinity the same day." On March 

 24, they reported "ptarmigan by the hundreds" in the valley back 

 of False Pass. On March 31, at Ikatan Valley, they saw 3 flocks 

 of 100 birds each, and saw numerous groups of 10 to 15 birds. 

 On April 2, at Sourdough Flats, they reported, "Flock after 

 flock of 100 to 150 or more each all through this area. The flocks 

 kept moving ahead of us until several thousand ptarmigans were 

 gathered in one large brood across the valley floor. It looked 

 and sounded like a gigantic chicken ranch." On April 10, at 

 P'alse Pass, a flock of "several hundred" were noted; the males 

 were "reddish brown about the head and shoulders." 



During field work on Unimak Island in May, 1925, I found 

 these ptarmigan common in the lowlands and on the middle 

 slopes of the mountains. On April 30, I saw three males that had 

 acquired much of the brown plumage, but on May 4 the females 

 that I observed were still mostly white, though speckled with 

 brown. On May 5, I saw one male in almost complete summer 

 plumage. 



An interesting incident occurred on May 19, 1925, at St. 

 Catherine Cove. I was about ready to leave my cabin, when the 

 clattering call of a male willow ptarmigan sounded close by. The 

 call was followed by a light patter on the floor of an adjoining 

 shed. Before going into the shed to investigate, I glanced out 

 the window and saw a peregrine falcon. In the shed, I found a 

 cock ptarmigan that ran out through the open door, only to return 

 almost at once. But my presence proved too much for him, and 

 he finally bolted out through the open door and, with lusty crow- 

 ing, took flight and disappeared over a rise. By this time, the 

 falcon was some distance away. 



Lagopus mufus: Rock Ptarmigan 



The rock ptarmigan occurs on the Alaska Peninsula, on the 

 eastern Aleutian Islands as far west as Yunaska, on the middle 

 and western Aleutians from Atka Island as far west as Kiska 



