THE WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 



591 



General Range. — High niountaiiis of Oregon and Washingtim, north to 

 Alaska. 



Range in Washington. — Central range and higher peaks of the Cascades 

 and (probably) the C)lym])ic Aluuntains. 



Authorities. — f "^\'hite-tailed ptarmigan." Johnson. Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 

 (1885) 23.] Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds. Vol. I.. 1892, p. 83. T. Rh. D". E. 



Specimens. — I'rov. B. E. 



AS the Bluebird mediates between earth and sky, so does the Ptarmigan 

 between snow and heather. Its jjlumage, white in winter and mottled gray 

 in summer, is an exact counterpart of its chosen surroundings; and its simple 

 tastes are satisfied with the fare of browse, berries, and chance insects which 

 is obtainable upon our highest mountains above the timber-line. Permanent 



Taken on Mf. Rainier, 



From a Plwtograf'h. Co/'ynght. 1908. !>v (C. L. Dazfson. 

 Tin; SI, LUSKIN PTARMIG.\N— BROADSIDE. 



residence in the case of any species hints at antiquity, but as one studies 

 these demure birds in their dwindling fastnesses of rock and ice, he cannot 

 help thinking of that elder time when ice prevailed over all the landscape, 

 and when these hardy Eskimos of the bird-world may have been the dominant 

 species in Washington. 



