WILLOW PTARMIGAN 179 



willows. A few males shot on April 5 had an occasional brown feather showing 

 on the head and neck. The morning of April 24 we left Mountain Village on 

 the Yukon and cut across the tundra for Hooper Bay, a journey which took us 

 four days. For the first two of these we encountered ptarmigan everywhere 

 along the willow-bordered sloughs and creeks. The hens were still white, but 

 the heads and necks of the cocks were about a third into the red spring plumage. 

 As we approached the coast and the willows became scarcer, these birds were no 

 longer seen. On May 9 the ground about Point Dall was beginning to show in 

 spots through the snow and the first ptarmigan made their appearance. Two 

 days later they were common. Each male now took possession of a little spot 

 of bare ground, whence he sent out his challenges, com-ere, com-ere, go-bec, go- 

 bec. Between calls they would bob their heads as if they were pecking at the 

 ground, or, jumping about 6 feet into the air, glide down to the earth, cackling 

 as they descended. The hens seemed to have but one call, a cackle similar to 

 that of a tame chicken. Often two cocks were seen chasing each other around 

 over the tundra, but only rarely would they seem to stand and fight it out. 

 In the evenings and early mornings these birds were especially noisy, and often 

 it was no great stretch of the imagination, what with the calls of the water- 

 fowl, to imagine oneself in some great barnyard. About this time the Eskimo 

 boys began to range the tundra with their bows and arrows, and many an 

 unwary cock and sometimes a hen were killed by the blunt shafts of these 8 and 

 10 year olds. 



Courtship. — Edwyn Sandys (1904) gives the following very good 

 account of this performance : 



The love-making of the ptarmigan is not unlike that of the Canada Grouse, 

 or " spruce-partridge." The males, with their plumage changing from white 

 to the handsome summer dress, strut with all the pomposity of their kind. 

 The red combs over the eyes are swollen and very conspicuous, as the bird 

 struts with head thrown far back, tail raised and spread, and wings trailing. 

 Presently he leaps into the air, raises himself higher and higher with a vigor- 

 ous flapping, then sails on set wings through a descending spiral, which brings 

 him back to his starting-point. While thus a-wing, he utters a curt, gruff 

 challenge oft repeated, a defiance to all rivals. Again he struts, and again goes 

 into the air, frequently to see male after male arise from near-by stations. 

 While so occupied the birds make considerable noise, the bark-like challenge of 

 other calls being heard for some distance. Meanwhile, the females loiter about 

 in the cover, admiring the efforts of the males, and gradually acknowledging 

 their charms. The inevitable battles follow — spirited encounters, in which 

 many hard knocks are given, and much pretty plumage marred, until the weaker 

 have been well whipped. 



Nesting. — Herbert W. Brandt has sent me some elaborate notes on 

 this species. He says of its nesting: 



The willow ptarmigan at Hooper Bay is not at all particular as to the location 

 of its home site, for it dwells impartially from the drift-strewn sea beach to the 

 higher altitudes on the mountains. Down under the protection of a drift log, a 

 clump of grass, a small bush, a mossy hummock, or any screeny object, she 

 scrapes out a cavity to fit her requirements. This she lines more or less with 

 any material at hand, and here she deposits daily her rich crimson egg. During 

 the period of egg accumulation, we found the nest to be covered with surrounding 

 material, because the bird does not begin to incubate until the full complement 

 is satisfied. When the first egg is laid there is but little form to the nest, but 



