nelson's ptarmigan 217 



ptarmigan, which he says is extremely abundant on some of the 

 islands in the eastern part of the Aleutian Chain. He writes: 



The mating season begins in the early part of May, and is continued for 

 about three weeks, by which time a site for the nest is chosen, usually 

 amidst the tall grasses at the mouth of a wide valley, or else on the open 

 tundra among the moss and scanty grass. 



The nest of this bird is composed of a few stalks of grass and a few feath- 

 ers that fall from the mother's breast. The nest is a very careless affair, 

 and often near the completion of incubation the eggs will lie on the bare 

 ground surrounded by a slight circle of grass stalks that have apparently 

 been kicked aside by the mother impatient of her task. The number of 

 eggs varies from nine to seventeen, eleven being the usual number. 



Dr. Richard C. McGregor (1906) found a nest on a small island in 

 the Krenitzin Group, east of Unalaska, that unquestionably belonged 

 to the Nelson's ptarmigan; it was taken on Egg Island on July 6; 

 " the nest was a mass of grass, leaves, and a few feathers " and 

 contained six eggs. 



Eggs. — The eggs referred to above are described by Doctor Mc- 

 Gregor (1906) as follows: 



In color the eggs are dull creamy brown overlaid with irregular spots of 

 dark reddish brown, almost black. The larger markings tend to form a ring 

 near the large end of each egg, but this ring is rather poorly defined. The 

 eggs measure as follows, in millimeters and tenths: 42.3X30.1; 42.4X30.6; 

 40.8X30.5; 41.7X31.3; 42.4X31.8; 45.2X31.4. Incubation was begun. 



There are three eggs in the National Museum collection that re- 

 semble certain types of rock ptarmigan's eggs. They are ovate in 

 shape with very little gloss. The ground colors are creamy white 

 or pale buff. In one the ground color- is nearly covered with small 

 spots and fine sprinkles of very dark brown ; in another it is nearly 

 covered with large blotches and small spots of " claret brown " and 

 " liver brown." The measurements of nine eggs average 42.5 by 30.5 

 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 44.2 by 

 30; 42.5 by 31.8, and 41.6 by 29.9 millimeters. 



Food. — Doctor Osgood (1904) reported that " an examination of 

 the crops of 10 birds killed at Cold Bay showed a variety of food, 

 but buds, particularly willow buds, predominated. Tiny buds and 

 twigs of some small species of Vaccinmm were found in large num- 

 bers, which must have been secured by a very tedious process. Some 

 of the craws contained nothing but buds, others had a few leaves 

 of Dryas and Ledum, and occasionally one contained some broken 

 pieces of large aments of Alnus viridis.'" 



Behavior. — Turner (1886) writes: 



The young are able to follow the mother as soon as they are hatched. As 

 this bird never collects into large flocks, I always supposed the flocks seen in 

 winter were the parents with the brood reared the previous summer. The 

 power of flight of this bird is much stronger than its congener. It is sustained 



