206 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Nesting. — The nest of the rock ptarmigan is a very simple affair, 

 a hollow in the ground or moss of the open tundra, lined with grasses, 

 mosses, or other convenient material, and a few feathers of the bird. 

 It may be partially sheltered beside a hummock, tuft of grass, or low 

 bush, but it is usually in plain sight. But Roderick MacFarlane 

 (1908) says: 



It proved no easy matter, however, to find the nests of this species, as the 

 plumage of the birds and the color of the eggs both strongly resembled the 

 neighbouring vegetation. At the same time the female sat so very closely that 

 more than one was caught on the nest, and I recollect an instance where the 

 parent, on the very near approach of our party, must have crouched as much 

 as possible in the hope that she might not be noticed, which would have hap- 

 pened had not one of the smartest of our Indian assistants caught a glance of 

 her eye. 



Eggs. — The eggs of the different races of rock ptarmigan are all 

 much alike and are very well described b} r MacFarlane and Brandt 

 under Kellogg's ptarmigan, but the six sets in my collection show 

 some types different from those described by others. The ground 

 colors vary from " clay color " or " pinkish cinnamon " to " pale 

 pinkish buff," " cream-buff," or " cartridge buff." They average 

 more heavily marked than willow ptarmigans' eggs; two sets are 

 nearly covered with great blotches and splashes of very dark browns, 

 " chestnut-brown " to " bone brown," or nearly black ; others are 

 marked like willow ptarmigans' eggs with similar colors. I also 

 have one set of 12 eggs. The measurements of 99 eggs in the United 

 States National Museum average 42 by 30 millimeters; the eggs 

 showing the four extremes measure 45 by 31, 44 by 32.5, 39 by 29, 

 and 41 by 28 millimeters, including eggs of both mainland forms. 



Young. — Turner says in his notes: 



When the young are with the parents they rely upon their color to hide them- 

 selves among the nearly similar vegetation from which they procure their food. 

 1 am certain I have walked directly over young birds that were well able to 

 fly. If the parent birds are first shot, the entire number of young may be 

 secured, as they will not fly until nearly trodden upon, and then only for 

 a few yards, where they may easily be seen. I have found on two occasions 

 an adult female with a brood of 13 young. All the flocks were secured with- 

 out trouble. At other times only three or four young would be found with both 

 parents. The young are very tender when first hatched ; no amount of most 

 careful attention will induce them to eat, and after only a few hours' captivity 

 they die. I could never keep them alive more than 12 hours. The changeable 

 weather, sudden squalls of snow or rain, must be the death of scores of these 

 delicate creatures. Their note is a soft piping pe-pe-pe, uttered several times, 

 and has the same sound as that of the young bobwhite, Colinus virginianus. 



Captain MacMillan tells me that ptarmigan occur in flocks about 

 Bowdoin Harbor. Baffin Island, all through the breeding season, and 

 the residents say that these are young birds, which do not breed until 

 their second spring. 



