52 ROBERT BELL ON THE 
sianellus, Baird) is the next to disappear ; then the ruffled grouse ; after that the Canada grouse, 
which, however, is found almost to the verge of the forest. We then enter on the home of the 
willow grouse, willow ptarmigan, or willow bird (Lagopus albus, Aud.) and lastly there 
appears to be only the rocker or rock ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris, Leach). In Baird, Cossin and 
Lawrence's great book, there is a mistake as to the principal distinction between these two 
species. It is the rocker and not the willow bird which has the slender beak. These authors 
are, however, correct as to the other distinction, namely, the black horizontal bar through 
the eye, which always co-exists with the slender beak. Little appears to be known about 
the plumage of these two species, except that of the winter. I may, therefore, state that in 
the breeding season the male of the willow grouse has the head and neck of a reddish 
pheasant color, with a naked red patch over the eye, the rest of the body being white. In 
summer they are exactly the color of the English pheasant, with the exception of the wings, 
which have a good deal of white. In winter the white of the living bird has a beautifully 
delicate rosy tint, which forms a considerable contrast with the surrounding snow. 
Both these species of ptarmigan are migratory to a certain extent, moving southward 
in the winter. 
At intervals of many years the willow ptarmigans come far to the south of their usual 
habitat, and are shot in great quantities in the more northern settlements of Quebec. The 
cause of these southward migrations is popularly supposed to be the unusual severity of 
the winter in the north. They are, however, really due to the opposite condition. In mild 
winters in the north, the rain coats the willow twigs with ice, preventing the birds from 
getting at the buds which are their staple food and compelling them to move on still 
further. 
The rockers in summer are of a reddish.grey color. In the autumn they become speckled 
with white, which gradually increases in proportion till the whole of the colored feathers 
have disappeared. When I was passing through Hudson’s Strait in October, 1880, flocks of 
these birds were flying southward, and considerable numbers of them alighted on the spars 
and rigging of the ships on several occasions. Very few of them were then pure white. 
The mottled and speckled specimens in the Government Museum were captured on this 
occasion. 
I have only time to notice a few of the Passeres. The pine grosbeak (Pinicola Canadensis, 
Cabanis) was found in summer on both sides of Hudson’s Bay, and I have no doubt it 
breeds in these latitudes, although I have not yet obtained the eggs. The shore lark and the 
Lapland longspur (Plectrophanes Lapponicus ) were both found in summer plumage. The 
mealy redpoll (Aegiothus canescens, Cabanis) hitherto only found in Greenland, was collected 
at York Factory (on the western side of Hudson’s Bay). But the most singular discovery 
in regard to geographical distribution is the finding of the scissors-tail or swallow-tailed 
flycatcher (Milvulus forficatus, Sw.) at York Factory. Heretofore, its range has been considered 
to extend only from Mexico to Central Texas. Baird, Cassin and Lawrence say with regard 
toit: “This exquisitely beautiful and graceful bird is quite abundant on the prairies of 
southern Texas, and is everywhere conspicuous among its kindred species. It is usually 
known as the scissors-tail from the habit of closing and opening the long feathers of the tail 
like the blades of a pair of scissors.” The specimen in the Government Museum was shot 
at York Factory, in the summer of 1880, and I have learned since then that these remarkable 
