228 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



As the habits of this ptarmigan do not differ materially from 

 those of other rock ptarmigan, I shall not attempt to duplicate what 

 I have already written on the species. 



According to Roderick MacFarlane (1908) the summer home of 

 the rock ptarmigan in northern Canada 



consists of vast plains or steppes of a flat or undulating character, diversified 

 by some small lakes and gently sloping eminences, not dissimilar in appearance 

 to portions of the North-West prairies. 



The greater part of the Barren Grounds is every season covered with short 

 grasses, mosses, and small flowering plants, while patches of sedgy or peaty soil 

 occur at longer or shorter distances. On these, as well as along the smaller 

 rivulets, river and lake banks, Labrador tea, crow-berries, and a few other kinds 

 of berries, dwarf birch, willows, etc., grow. 



Referring to his trip to Hooper Bay, Alaska, Herbert W. Brandt 

 writes to me : 



Our first acquaintance with the rock ptarmigan was made in the upper soli- 

 tudes of the Beaver Mountains high above timber line on April 6. On these 

 bald snow-beaten hills we found a number of straggling flocks ; one that num- 

 bered about 20 birds contained only males, while the others were evidently mated 

 couples, banded together. On the wind-swept slopes were numerous mossy 

 hummocks, and in the leeward side of this scant protection, the bird scoops out 

 a snug little snowy igloo. This is its only retreat and roosting place during the 

 long cold winter, for Mr. Twitchell advises me that this hardy species seldom 

 descends to the larger willows and spruces, which line the streams below. The 

 rock ptarmigan is a rather common summer resident in the Askinuk Mountains, 

 where it seems to prefer the sterile open ridges in the vicinity of 1,000 feet 

 in altitude. 



Nesting. — Brandt says on this subject : 



The contents of the nest of this species range from 6 to 11 eggs, but the usual 

 number found is 8. The nesting site is so chosen that protection is afforded 

 by a hummock, a small tree, or even a growth of frost-dried grass, but occa- 

 sionally no concealment whatever is present. The lining of the nest consists 

 solely of surrounding materials, such as grasses, lichens, and moss, together with 

 a few feathers. 



Eggs. — The rock ptarmigan, according to MacFarlane (1908), lays 

 fewer eggs than the willow ptarmigan, the usual number being six 

 or seven and rarely more than nine. He describes the eggs, based 

 on the very large series collected by him, as follows : 



The eggs are ovate or short ovate in form, resembling the eggs of Lagopus 

 lagopus considerably, both in colour and markings, but they average smaller. 

 The majority are readily distinguished from those of the latter, the markings, 

 as a rule, being smaller and better defined, and seldom running into indistinct 

 and irregular blotches, as is frequently the case in the eggs of that species. 

 The ground colour ranges from a pale cream to a decided yellowish-buff, and 

 in many specimens this is entirely hidden by a vinaceous rul'ous suffusion. 

 The spots and blotches range from a dark clove-brown to a dark claret-red, 

 with paler coloured edgings ; they are of various sizes, from the size of a buck- 

 shot to that of No. 10 shot, and are irregularly distributed over the egg. 



