364 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



the change is more rapid than in the males, for a female in full summer 

 plumage was taken on June 4. 



During the last three days of September 1913, some males taken at 

 Humphrey Point were entirely white except for a few brown feathers 

 on the crown and sides of the head. Females taken at the same 

 time were, with one exception, far less advanced towards full winter 

 plumage. 



Lagopus lagopus alexandrae Grinnell. 



Alexander's ptarmigan. 



Quite common but exceedingly wild at Portage Bay, Alaska Penin- 

 sula, April 21, 1913. Seven were preserved. 



Lagopus rupestris rupestris (Gmelin). 

 rock ptarmigan. 



This is an abundant species on the coast from Camden Bay to the 

 Mackenzie River delta during the spring and late summer after the 

 breeding season which is spent in the foot hills of the Endicott Moun- 

 tains. 



At Demarcation Point the first of this species seen in the spring of 

 1914 was a pair on May 4'. Their late arrival here was a matter of 

 chance I believe, for at Humphrey Point, they were seen much earlier. 



They seem to pair earlier than the Willow Ptarmigan, for while the 

 latter were about in good-sized flocks the former were mostly paired 

 or in groups of three to five. They were very tame in most cases, 

 and this I do not understand for the Eskimo has as much oppor- 

 tunity to shoot this species as the other. Sometimes both species 

 were seen together but very seldom. 



The males are quite pugnacious, when in flocks, often pursuing each 

 other and going through antics suggesting the young males of domestic 

 fowls. 



Rock Ptarmigan exhibit considerable curiosity at times, a trait I 

 have not noticed in the Willow Ptarmigan. W'hen one of its kind is 

 dead or wounded the rest frequently show great concern and interest 

 in the unfortunate one. 



Many times while walking over the tundra I would be startled by 

 the rattling call of a male Rock Ptarmigan, and turning about see him 

 alight within a few yards of me with tail spread and eye-wattles erect. 



