ROCK PTARMIGAN 205 



Spring. — Bernharcl Hantzsch (1929), referring to the spring mi- 

 gration at Killinek, northern Labrador, writes : 



Suddenly in early spring, mostly in April, seldom sooner, at times not until 

 well into May, the wanderers appear from the south. Usually at first rather 

 small advance posts are established. A short time after that the whole throng 

 of birds follows. As I was assured by the missionaries, Messrs. Waldmann 

 and Perrett, who each have passed a year up to 1906 in Killinek, by Mr. J. 

 Kane who lived there six or seven years, as well as the Eskimos of the 

 neighborhood agreeing, countless large flocks of these birds appear at times, 

 usually passing through rather high in the air. For hours they hasten in 

 many thousands through the sky, so that their numbers cause astonishment. 

 Many flights of the kind are observed from the same place. The birds mostly fly 

 directly across Hudson Strait without delaying. This is almost always covered 

 with ice in the spring and little to be distinguished from the land. The flight is 

 so swift and high, that Missionary Perrett was in doubt whether the birds 

 were migrating to Greenland, which can, however, be safely denied, according 

 to the unanimous reports from there. The Canadian Neptune Expedition 1903- 

 1904 observed a great migration of these birds at Fullerton, northwest Hudson 

 Bay. Only a small percentage of the ptarmigan make a stop in our region in 

 order to rest up and hunt food. The forerunners and the stragglers stop more 

 frequently than the main swarm, the latter having perhaps not much farther to 

 go to reach their breeding places. The birds which stop, halt mostly in flocks of 

 ten to thirty, occasionally still more together, and they usually do not 

 act particularly shyly. When contrary winds and hunger tire the creatures 

 out, they are so tame that they can be killed with the long dog-whip. The 

 captured birds form a much-preferred article of food for whites and Eskimos, 

 indeed the latter devour even the entrails, especially when these are warm. 



Courtship. — Turner describes the courtship of the rock ptarmigan 

 in his notes as follows : 



The mating season begins in May, and during this period the male acts in 

 the strangest manner to gain the affection of his chosen mate. He does not 

 launch high in air and croak like the willow ptarmigan, but runs around his 

 prospective bride with tail spread, wings either dragging like those of the 

 common turkey, or else his head and neck stretched out, and breast in con- 

 tact with the ground, pushing himself in this manner by the feet, which are 

 extended behind. The male at this time ruffles every feather of his body, twists 

 his neck in various positions, and the supraorbital processes are swollen and 

 erect. Pie utters a most peculiar sound, something like a growling kurr-kurr; 

 as the passion of the display increases the bird performs the most astonishing 

 antics, such as leaping in the air without effort of wings, rolling over and over, 

 acting withal as if beside himself with ardor. 



The males engage in most desperate battles ; the engagement lasts for hours 

 or until one is utterly exhausted, the feathers of head, neck, and breast strew- 

 ing the ground. A maneuver is for the pursued bird to lead the other off a 

 great distance and suddenly fly back to the female, who sits or feeds as un- 

 concerned as it is possible for a bird to do. She acts thoroughly the most heart- 

 less coquette, while he is a most passionately devoted lover. He would rather 

 die than forsake her side, and often places himself between the hunter and 

 her, uttering notes of warning for her to escape, while attention is drawn to 

 him who is the more conspicuous. 



