SOUTHERN WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN 235 



States. Mrs. Florence M. Bailey (1918) gives the following attrac- 

 tive description of its haunts in the Glacier National Park: 



Skirting an acre of snow, I zigzagged back and forth over the face of the 

 "ideal ptarmigan slope," open to swift-winged enemies, but by its broken sur- 

 face and variety of colors affording a safe background for ptarmigan in the 

 mixed summer plumage. Even the wide expanse of slide rock was broken by 

 occasional dwarf evergreens and streaks of grass, and many of its red shales 

 were patterned with lemon-yellow or curly-brown lichen covering deep ripple 

 marks. Above the main mass of slide was a wide grassy slope of soft yellow- 

 Isti brown tones thai would soon match the brown of the ptarmigan. Above 

 this the narrow outcropping ledges and stony slopes made a terraced Alpine 

 flower garden, one of the gardens that are among the choicest of all nature's 

 lavish gifts to man; this one, with its maturing ^vvd harvest, providing ver- 

 itable grain fields for hungary bird and beast. Some of these Alpine terraces 

 were fairly white with the lovely low, wide-smiling Dryas octopetala. In other 

 places the beds of white were .-polled with the pink mossy cushions of Silenc 

 acaulis, while iii still others there were clumps of dwarf sedum, whose dark- 

 red flowers and seed pods contrasting strikingly with their pale green leaves 

 might well attract the attention of furry vegetarians locating granaries, and 

 make good feeding grounds Cor the Arctic grouse. 



Nesting. — Bendire (1892) quotes A. W. Anthony as writing: 



In southern Colorado, where I have met with I his species, nesting must begin 

 seme time from the first to the middle of June, as I have found young birds but 

 an hour or so from the egg, from July 1 t<> the L8th. The nests I have seen 

 were located in the loose rocky debris of steep hillsides, a simple depression in 

 the short line grass which grows in small patches between the rocks above the 

 timber line. Although utterly devoid of protection from hush or shrub, so 

 nearly does the sitting hint resemble the gray bowlders which surround her 

 on every side that the discovery of the nest is due largely to accident. When 

 incubating it is nearly impossible i'> flush the bird, according to my experi- 

 ence. Twice have I escaped stepping upon a sitting Ptarmigan by only an inch 

 or so, and once I reined in my horse at a time when another step would have 

 crushed out the life of a brood of nine chicks lint an hour or so from the 

 egg. In this case the parent crouched at the horse's feet, and, though in 

 momentary danger of being stepped on, made no attempt to escape until I had 

 dismounted and put out my hand to catch her. She then fluttered to the top 

 of a rock a few feet distant, and watched me as I handled the young, con- 

 stantly uttering low anxious protests. The chicks were still too young to 

 escape, mere little awkward bunches of down that stumbled and fell over one 

 another when they attempted to run. 



He quotes Doctor Coues's description of a nest as follows: 



The nest in its present state measures scarcely 5 inches in diameter by about 

 an inch in depth. It thus seems rather small for the size of the bird, but is 

 probably somewhat compressed in transportation. The shape is saucer like, 

 but with very little concavity of surface. The bottom is decidedly and reg- 

 ularly convex in all directions, apparently fitting a considerable depression in 

 the ground. The outline is to all intents circular. The nest is rather closely 

 matted, the material interlacing it in all directions, and retains considerable 

 consistency. The material is chiefly fine dried-^rass stems; with these are 

 mixed, however, a few small leaves and weed tops and quite a number of 

 feathers. The latter, evidently those of the parent birds, are imbedded through- 



