426 LAGOPUS LEUCURUS, WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN-. 



Hue). — Aiken, Pr. Bost. Soc. xv, 1872, 209 (Snowy Range of Colorado).— COUES, 

 Key N. A. B. 1872, 236.— B. B. & R., N. A. B. iii,'l874, 404, pi. 62, f. 6. 



Hah. — Rocky Mountains, from the Arctic Ocean to latitude 37°. Higher uiountains 

 of Washiugtou Territory and British Columbia. 



Ptarmigan may be said to be simply Grouse which turn white in 

 winter. They are the only members of this family of birds in which 

 such a remarkable seasonal change of plumage occurs. All the Ptar- 

 migan are Grouse of boreal or alpine distrilnition, only reaching sea- 

 level in the higher latitudes, elsewhere confined to mountains. There 

 are five or six species of the Northern Hemisphere, three of which in- 

 habit North America. The present species is immediately distinguished 

 from the rest by having the tail wbite at all seasons, as implied in its 

 name ; this member, in both our other species, being Avholly black, and 

 being at least in part black in the species of the Old World. In size, 

 form, and general aspect, the Ptarmigan come nearest the Spruce Par- 

 tridge {Tetrao canadensis) ; like this species lacking any peculiar feathers 

 on the neck ; their most notable characteristic is the dense feathering 

 of the feet, in adaptation to the boreal regions they inhabit. The feath- 

 ers reach quite to the claws, and cause the bird's feet to look something 

 like a rabbit's — a similarity that suggested the technical term Lago^ms, 

 or "hare-foot." The same thing occurs in the Snowy Owi, to the same 

 purpose. In winter this Ptarmigan is entirely snow-white ; in summer 

 the plumage is variegated with ochrey and tawn\ , in finely undulated 

 l)attern, much of the under j)arts, however, and wrings, remaining white. 

 It shows little or nothing of the rich brown and chocolate colors that 

 the other Ptarmigan display. 



This is the only Ptarmigan of regular occurrence in the United States 

 (exclusive of Alaska). Another species, the Willow Ptarmigan {Lago- 

 pus albus), is occasional in northernmost New England, but in winter 

 only. Audubon, indeed, gives it from the " Rocky Mountains," but there 

 is nothing to show that he means that portion of the mountains within 

 the United States. The White-tailed Ptarmigan is found on the highest 

 mountains of the main chain, as far south as latitude 37°, and on the 

 peaks of Washington Territory and British Columbia. Little has V)een 

 recorded of its habits, which, however, are i)robably not materially dif- 

 ferent Irom those of its better-known allies. Mr. Aiken, as above quoted, 

 states that it is said to be common on the Snowy Range of Colorado, 

 and gives a description of the nest, upon a miner's authority, as com- 

 posed of leaves and grass, placed on the gnmnd, among bushes on a 

 side-hill, "Eggs fourteen in number, light bluish-brown, spotted with 

 dark brown." The following description of the egg, furnished by Mr. 

 Allen, w ho took it on the Coloradan Mountains, above timber line, where 

 he found the bird common, is more precise : "The onlj'^ egg of this spe- 

 cies I have seen, was an imperfect one presented to me at Montgomery, 

 Colorado Territoiy, by Mr. A. G. Mead, who obtained it a few duys be- 

 fore on Mount Lincoln. It is thickly sprinkled with small, bright red- 

 dish brown spots, on a chocolate-colored ground, and measures about 2.00 

 inches in length by 1.20 inches in diameter. The White-tailed Ptarmi- 

 gan breeds above timber-line, probably throughout the snow-capped 

 range of the Rocky Mountains, descending into the timbered valleys in 

 winter, when many are killed for food by the miners." 



The following interesting communication was prepared for this work 

 by ]\lr. Trippe, from liis observations in Clear Creek County, Colorado : 



"The White-tailed Ptarmigan is a very abundant bird on the main 

 range, living entirely above tunber-line the year round, except duiing 

 the severest part of winter, when it descends into the timber lor shelter 



