Colorado ami \^Titl'^ as t'<illo\vs: " I'lic Wliitc-taikil I'tarmi^aii is a \crv ahimdant 

 liird on tlu- main raii},'t', liviiij^ entirely al)o\f tiinhcr line the year around, except 

 tlurinj; the severest part of winter, when it descends into the linihcr for siielter 

 and food, occasionally strajjjjlinj,' as low as ten thousand feet. It begins to change 

 color alxnit the middle f)f March, when a fi'w s|K'cks of hlackish-hrown begin to 

 appear in the plumage oi the oldest males ; but the change is very slow and it is 

 late in .\j)ril before there is much black visible, and the close of May, or early in 

 June, before the summer plumage is perfect. The ptarmigan builds its nest in the 

 latter part of June. The nest — which is .-dmost always i)laced on or near the sum- 

 mit of a ridge or spur, many hundred feet above timber-line — is merely a depres- 

 sion in the ground, lined with a few straws and white feathers from the mother's 

 breast. While en 1 cr nest, the bird is very tame. ( )nce, 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 uj)on her. Seeing that she 

 did not appear frightened. I sat down gently, stroked her on the back, and finally 

 putting both hands beneath her raised her gently off the nest and placed her 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 to go away. Late in July I came across a brood of young ones, 

 a|)parently not more than four or five days old. They were striped with broad 

 bands of white and blackish-brown, and looked precisely like little game chickens. 

 The mother ftew 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 themselves in the dense 

 grass and among the stones. About the first of September the i)tarmigan begins to 

 change color again ; but. as in the spring, the process is very gradual, white feath- 

 ers appearing, one by one, and taking the place of the dark ones. The white on 

 the lower parts enlarges first ; then the white area of the wings ; and next, white 

 specks api)ear 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 ])lumage perceptible, the general aspect being that of 

 summer. The dark areas predominate throughout October and. as I have been 

 informed by persons who have killed them throughout the year, it is late in Decem- 

 ber or in January before they become pure white, some few birds showing occa- 

 sional dark spots even throughout the latter month. 



"The ptarmigan feeds upon the leaves and stalks of various alpine plants. It 

 also lives largely upon insects, and in winter is said to subsist on the buds and 

 leaves of the pines and firs. Its fiesh is light colored, though not as white as that 

 of the gray grouse, to which it is usually considered inferior for the table. In 

 localities where it is seldom molested it is very tame, and I have been informed 

 by i)ersons whose word is worthy of belief, that they have frequently killed them 

 with sticks. Ximble of foot, the ptarmigan frequently prefers to run away on the 

 approach of danger, rather than take wing, runm'ng over the rocks and leaping 

 from point to point with great agility, stopping every little while to look at the 



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