186 BULLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



fed. So I hunted around ; and sure enough, I found the female ptarmigan 

 feeding in some dwarf willows about twenty feet from where I stood. As soon 

 as I started after the female the male ptarmigan flew down from the tree top 

 and ran off ahead of me, trying in various ways to decoy me away from his mate. 

 I had been told of an instance where a cock willow ptarmigan had attacked 

 and routed a large grizzly bear tbat happened to stumble upon his nest. But 

 even after seeing the ptarmigan drive off the gulls I did not fully appreciate 

 the furiousness of the attack until June 23, when I came across an old hen 

 ptarmigan with her brood of small young which were just able to fly. I rushed 

 after the young, trying to catch one. Just as I was about to grab a chick, a 

 willow bush in front of me exploded and the crick ptarmigan flew directly 

 into my face, knocking my glasses to one side as he slapped my face with his 

 beating wings. He then dropped to the ground, but instead of retreating flew 

 directly into my lace again ; but this time I was ready for him and caught 

 him with my bare hand when he became mixed up with my mosquito head 

 net. The bird then tried to bite and to flap his way to freedom. As I started 

 off with the cock under my arm the hen ptarmigan left her young and came 

 rushing at me and then crawled feebly about at my feet as though in mortal 

 agony. When I started away she rushed frantically about flapping my heels 

 with her wings at every step. Every time she rushed at me she hissed. When 

 the male found he could not escape he uttered a few croaking notes and the 

 hen left me at once and went back to her chicks. 



Voice. — Dixon (1927) says that the warning cackle of the male 

 " sounds like running a nail over a stiff comb." He mentions three 

 notes of the female : A harsh ke-ouk, ke-ouk is a warning of danger ; 

 a soft purring keer-er-eerk is a hush-a-bye, when hovering young; 

 and a clucking cuck-cuck is a note used to call the chicks to her. 



The downy chicks give a soft cheep-cheep-cheep when in distress or 

 when separated. 



Enemies. — Gulls, jaegers, hawks, owls, foxes, wolverenes, and other 

 predatory birds and animals levy heavy toll on the ptarmigan and 

 their eggs and young. Ptarmigan are so plentiful that they furnish 

 the principal food supply for many of these creatures, as well as for 

 the human natives. Dixon (1927) writes: 



After the young ptarmigan are out of the shell they are menaced by Black- 

 billed Magpies as well as by the foxes. Thus on June 24 a family of four 

 young and two adult magpies was found systematically working the willows 

 in the Savage River bottom for ptarmigan chicks. When these magpies located 

 a pair of adult ptarmigan they would retire stealthily and hide in the willows 

 near by, until the ptarmigan chicks began to run about. Then the magpies 

 swooped down and grabbed the chicks before they could hide, and then car- 

 ried them off and ate them. A cock ptarmigan that I watched put one magpie 

 to flight, but where there were six and in another case nine magpies working 

 together against two adult ptarmigan the odds were overwhelming. As a 

 result of this persecution by the magpies we found that by July 10 many fam- 

 ilies of young ptarmigan had been reduced to only one or two individuals. 

 Gyrfalcons also levy continuous toll on ptarmigan ; and since these large falcons 

 are relatively numerous in the Mount McKinley district, the aggregate number 

 of ptarmigan killed by them is considerable. It is thus easy to see why the hen 

 ptarmigan lays from 6 to 12 eggs. If only one or two eggs were laid each 

 season the species would soon become extinct. 



