GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, ETC. 129 



KEY TO SPECIES OF LAGOPUS. 



1. Greneral color of upper parts gray, in fall plumage. 



leucurus, p. 129. 

 r. General color of upper parts bufEy, in fall plumage. 



altipetens, p. 129. 



304. Lagopus leucurus Swains. ^ Rich. White-tailed Ptar- 

 migan. 



Adults in winter. — Pure white. Adults in summer : plumage spotted, 

 barred, or mottled with black and rich buffy brown except for white 

 wings, tail, legs, and belly ; the white tail hidden from above by long 

 mottled coverts. Adults in fall : similar to summer, but dark parts more 

 imiformly gray, with finer markings and only a trace of buffy. Young : 

 tail gray. Wing : 6.37-6.75, tail O.81-4.07, bill .37, tarsus \.l'r,-l.'l'2. 



Distribution. — Above timber line in Alaska, mountains of British 

 Columbia, and higher peaks of Cascades, south to Hood and Jefferson. 



Nest. — On gi-ound in open situations, a depression in the grass, or an 

 actual nest of interlaced grass stems, weed tops, and feathers. Eggs : 10 to 

 16, more or less heavily spotted or marbled with dark brown or black on a 

 buffy or light rusty ground. 



Food. — Grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, and other insects, as well as 

 young foliage, buds, flowers, and catkins. 



Well above timber line along the crests of the higher mountain 

 ranges these hardy furry-footed little grouse live among the rocks 

 and heather beds, where, although the food supply is small, they 

 find an abundance, there being little or no competition from birds of 

 like habits. 



In summer they keep close to the retreating snow-banks and often 

 make their nests beside permanent glaciers. Their landscape is al- 

 ways patched with snow as their plumage is Avith white. But though 

 they are colored for safety among the glaciers, the dark parts of their 

 plumage make them blend in with the rocks so perfectly that they 

 are almost invisible when not moving — a fact they seem to appre- 

 ciate, for they sit still until you almost step on them. 



Vkrnon Bailey. 



304a. L. 1. altipetens Osgood. Southekn Whitk-tau.ed Pt.\k- 



MIG.\N. 



Slightly larger than leucurus and similar 

 to it in winter and sunnner plumages, but 



in fall plumage more brownish, the upper . "^gWJ^JSfe*'' "^ 



parts pale cinnamon rufous. Wing 7.10- 

 7.44, tail 4.30-4.72, bill about .."57, tarsus 

 1.13-1.2S. 



Distribution. — Colorado. 



In Colorado the h)cal name for the ptarmigan is 'white quail. 



GENUS TYMPANUCHUS. 



General Characters. — Sidt-s of nrck with a conspicuous tuft of stiff. 

 ('^oitrt4*4^eathers and an inflatable air sac ; head with a slight soft crest : 



