128 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



in that the ground color is more uniformly dark, and the bars 

 are broader and extend farther down the flanks and back; it 

 differs from toivnsendi in that the coarse barring is not restricted 

 to the anterior part of the body, and the ground color is paler 

 and less ochraceous. 



Lagopus mutus townsendi 



Differences between toivnsendi and gabrielsoni have just been 

 given. Townsend's rock ptarmigan is found on Kiska and on 

 Little Kiska Islands. We have no specimens to prove that it oc- 

 cupies Chugul Island. It is possible, but unlikely, that townsendi 

 is found on Buldir Island, far to the west ; in any event, we found 

 no ptarmigan there on several visits. . 



Lagopus mutus evermanni 



Attu: A-ti-ka-took-ach 



Russian, Commander Islands: Kuroptka or Kuropaschka (Stejneger) 



Russian, Yana River region : Mala Kuropatka (Pleske) 



(The Attu and Russian names undoubtedly refer to all rock ptarmigan.) 



Evermann's rock ptarmigan occupies Attu Island. Apparently, 

 ptarmigan have always been scarce on Attu, even before the in- 

 troduction of blue foxes. According to Turner (1886), the natives 

 reported ptarmigan on Agattu Island, but we did not obtain 

 specimens there on our visit in 1936. 



Comparison of evermanni with ridgivayi (of the Commander 

 Islands) shows that evermanni, darkest of the rock ptarmigan 

 series, is closely related to the Commander Islands form. In 

 ridgivayi, the ground color shades from dark buckthorn to hazel. 

 This ground color varies with different specimens and on differ- 

 ent parts of the body ; it is heavily overlaid with a close pattern of 

 fine black vermiculation and is spotted with blackish feathers. 

 In the Attu evermanni, the ground color suggests buckthorn 

 brown, as in ridgivayi; but it is duskier and less rufescent, and 

 the black vermiculations are more closely woven and the black 

 feathers are more prevalent. The plumage characteristics in 

 evermanni give the effect of a darker bird than ridgivayi. Com- 

 paring evermanni and ridgivayi with nelsoni from the Islands of 

 the Four Mountains in the eastern part of the Aleutian chain, 

 we find that there is a general resemblance among the three, but 

 that ridgivayi and evermanni show the closest affinity, while, in 

 ground color, nelsoni tends to be more olivaceous with an abun- 

 dance of Dresden brown. 



