190 BULlLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Winter range. — Although willow ptarmigan perform a very defi- 

 nite migration, individual birds are frequently found in winter almost 

 at the northern limits of the breeding range. At this season they 

 have been recorded north to Alaska (Nunivak Island, Nulato, Kutuk 

 River, and Miller Creek) ; Mackenzie (mouth of the Dease River, 

 Fort Eae, and Fort Reliance) ; northern Manitoba (Fort du Bro- 

 chet) ; Franklin (Igloolik) ; Quebec (Great Whale River, and Pi- 

 ashti) ; and Newfoundland. Normally they are found south to 

 southern Quebec (Lake St. John) ; central Ontario (east of Cochrane 

 and Martin Falls) ; central Manitoba (Norway House and Grand 

 Rapids) ; Saskatchewan (Cumberland House and Fort Carleton) ; 

 and southwestern Mackenzie (Fort Simpson). 



Migration. — Though the bulk of the willow ptarmigan move south 

 each fall or winter, and return north in spring, the movement has no 

 regularity and is directly correlated with the food supply and, in 

 consequence, with the fall of snow. 



First fall arrivals are: Quebec, Lake Mistassini, October 25, and 

 Godbout, November 2; Ontario, Martin Falls, about October 20; 

 Manitoba, Lac du Brochet, November 4, Grand Rapids, November 12, 

 and Winnipeg, January 12; Mackenzie, Fort Rae, October 1; and 

 Alberta, Fort Chippewyan, October 11. 



In spring, late departures for the north are : Quebec, Lake Mistas- 

 sini, about May 1 ; Ontario, Cochrane, March 20 ; Manitoba, Winni- 

 peg, March 21; and southwestern Mackenzie, Fort Simpson, March 

 12. They have been observed to arrive at Fort Resolution, Macken- 

 zie, on June 28, and at Demarcation Point, Alaska, as early as April 6. 



Casual records. — The willow ptarmigan has been reported a few 

 times in the Northern United States. Among these records are: 

 Maine, one at Kenduskeag, April 23, 1892 ; New York, one at Watson, 

 May 22, 1876 ; Wisconsin, two taken near Racine in December, 1846 ; 

 Minnesota, one taken at S*»4y Island, Lake of the Woods, April 20, 

 1914; and Montana, three taken in Glacier National Park in the 

 winter of 1913-14. Prof. W. B. Barrows believed that they occasion- 

 ally occurred on Keweenaw Point, Mich. 



The range as above described is for the entire species, which in the 

 1931 edition of the American Ornithologists 1 Union Check List is sub- 

 divided into five subspecies. According to this authority the sub- 

 species albus is found in North America from the eastern Aleutian 

 Islands, northern Mackenzie, northern Banks Island, and central 

 Greenland south to central British Columbia, central Alberta, cen- 

 tral Ontario, and southern Quebec. The Ungava ptarmigan (L. I. 

 ungavus) occurs from northern Quebec west probably to the eastern 

 shore of Hudson Bay. Allen's ptarmigan (L. I. alleni) is confined to 

 Newfoundland. The Alaska ptarmigan (L. I. alascen-sis) is found 



