LAGOPUS LEUCURUS, WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 427 



and food, occasionally straggling as low as 10,000 feet. It begins to 

 change color about the middle of March, when a few specks of blackish- 

 brown begin to appear in the plumage of the oldest males ; bnt the 

 change is very slow, and it is late in April before there is much black 

 visible, and the close of May, or early in June, before the summer plum- 

 age is perfect. The Ptarmigan builds its nest in the latter part of June, 

 and commences hatching toward the close of the month or early in July. 

 The nest — which is almost always placed on or near the summit of a 

 ridge or spur, many hundred feet above timber-line — is merely a dei^res- 

 sion in the ground, lined with a few straws and white feathers trom the 

 mother's breast. The eggs are eight in number, of a light buft brown, 

 thickly sprinkled with spots of dark chocolate-brown, somewhat thicker 

 at the larger end. While on her nest, the bird is very tame. Once, 

 while walking near the summit of the range, I chanced to look down, 

 and saw a Ptarmigan in the grass, at my very feet ; at the next step I 

 should have trodden upon her. Seeing that she did not appear fright- 

 ened, I sat clown gently, stroked her on the back, and tiually, putting 

 both hands beneath her, raised her gently off the nest and set her down 

 on the grass, while she scolded and pecked my hands like a setting hen ; 

 and on being released, merely flew off" a few yards and settled on a rock, 

 from which she watched me till I had gone away. Late in July I came 

 across a brood of young ones, apparently not more than four or five days 

 old. They were striped with broa*d bands of white and blackish-brown, 

 and looked precisely like little game chickens. The mother flew in my 

 face and hit me with her wings, using all the little artifices that the 

 Quail and Partridge know so well how to employ, to draw me away ; 

 while her brood, seven or eight in number, nimbly ran and hid them- 

 selves in the dense grass and among the stones. On another excursion 

 above timber-line, toward the close of August, I found most of the young 

 ones nearly grown and strong on the wing; but one brood was of the 

 size of Quails, showing that some birds must begin breeding much later 

 than others, or that they occasionally raise two broods. These little 

 ones were colored much like the older birds, having blackish brown 

 bodies and pure white tails. About the first of September the Ptarmi- 

 gan begins to change color again ; but, as in the spring, the process is 

 very gradual, white feathers appearing, one by one, and taking the place 

 of the daik ones. The white on the lower parts enla'ges first ; then the 

 white areas on the wing ; and next, white specks appear on the upper 

 parts, becoming larger and more numerous as the season wears on ; but 

 so gradual is the change, that a month after it begins there is not much 

 difference in the plumage ])erceptible, the general aspect being that of 

 summer. There is much nu)re of the light rufous, however, and the ap- 

 pearance is lighter and grayer, as though bleached. The dark areas 

 predominate, however, throughout October ; and, as J have been in- 

 formed by persons who have killed them throughout the year, it is late 

 in December or January before they become pure white, some few birds 

 showing occasional dark spots even throughont the latter month. 



" The Ptarmigan feeds n^jon the leaves and stalks ot various ali)ine 

 plants, being* particularly lond of those of a species of Cassia{i), the 

 flowers of which 1 have Irequently taken from its crop. It also lives 

 largely upon insects, and in winter is said to subsist on the lnuls and 

 leaves ol the [)ines and firs, its flesh is light colored, thongh not as 

 white as that of the Gray Grouse, to which it is usnally considered 

 inferior for the table. In localities where it is seldom molested it is 

 very lanu', and 1 have been inibrnu'd by i)ersons whose word is worthj' 

 of beliel", tlyit they have frequently killed it with sticks. IJnl when 



