^'O- 3^ BIRDS OF AI.EUTIAN ISLANDS— BEXT ly 



their courtship in the air or strutted about on the ground. The male 

 is a strong flyer and delights in making long scaling flights, particu- 

 larly against a strong wind when he rises and falls at will on firmly 

 set wings or poises like a falcon over his admiring mate. 



LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS TOWNSENDI 



Townsend's Ptarmigan 

 At Kiska Island on June 17, the Ptarmigan of this form were 

 still in the uplands, were much wilder than the Atka birds and not 

 nearly so abundant, but during the few days that we were here we 

 succeeded in collecting a good series. No nests were found ; proba- 

 bly we were too early for complete sets. 



LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS CHAMBERLAINI 



Adak Ptarmigan 

 The Adak Ptarmigan frequented the high dry tundra and low 

 hillsides where reindeer moss was plentiful as well as the grassy 

 hollows and valleys. They were common but not abundant and we 

 obtained all we needed. Two nests were found, each containing 

 seven nearly fresh eggs. All of these Ptarmigan v/ere feeding 

 entirely on green food, principally the young, green leaves and buds 

 of the dwarf willows, the tops of ground evergreens and mosses 

 and the flower buds and blossoms of herbaceous plants. 



LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS SANFORDI 



Tanaga Ptarmigan 

 On Tanaga Island we collected a good series of this bird which 

 proved to be a new subspecies, as elsewhere described.' The birds 

 were abundant and tame on the rolling grassy hillocks or sand dunes 

 back of the beach and on the little grassy hills on the tundra. Three 

 sets of eggs were collected and other nests were seen by members 

 of the ships crew, who went hunting on June 25, only a half day 

 being spent on the island. One nest containing nine fresh eggs was 

 in a hollow among some large tufts of grass in the steep bank of a 

 stream. The other nests were in grassy hollows ainong the hillocks 

 and contained eight fresh eggs each. 



LAGOPUS EVERMANNI 



Evermann's Ptarmigan 

 This, the darkest of all the forms, inhabits Attu Island, the west- 

 ern extremity of the chain where it is found on the moss covered and 

 bare, rocky sides of the mountains. It enjoys the rank of a distinct 



'Smithsonian Misc. Coll., Vol. 56, No. 30- 



