S CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 81 
perhaps, of the easternmost island adjoining the peninsula of Aliaska, where two species of 
Ptarmigan are said to occur, To the west of the island on the Aleutian chain it is not found, 
being replaced by the species mentioned below. Neither is it found on the fur seal nor any of the 
other islands in Bering Sea, with the possible exception of Saint Lawrence. In the autumn, just 
previously to the severe winter storms, there is a partial migration of this Ptarmigan from 
the Arctic coast south to the valleys of the Yukon and Kuskoquim, where the sheltering thickets 
of willow and alder afford it refuge during the winter. As spring re-opens it passes to the 
north and regains its breeding grounds. Some of the hardier among these birds, however, remain 
during the entire winter in the extreme north. On September 8, 1881, while the Corwin lay in 
Kotzebue Sound, these Grouse were gathering in considerable flocks, preparing for their southern 
migration. They were found along the shore where the abundant supply of berries afforded them 
food. They were attended as usual by numerous Goshawks, and several Gyrfalcons were seen in 
the vicinity. In spring, while the males are paying court to the objects of their choice, they select 
some slight elevation, such as a prominent knoll or a snow bank, upon which they take their stand 
and utter their loud, harsh note of defiance, or do battle with some roving free-lance of their kind. 
LAGOPUS RUSPESTRIS (Gm.) Leach. 
(78.) THE Rock PTARMIGAN. 
Along the eastern shore of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, wherever the mount- 
ains or high hills approach the sea, this grouse occurs. It is found in the immediate vicinity of 
Saint Michael’s, frequenting the hill-tops in summer and seeking the shelter of the willows and 
alders about their bases in winter. On the coast to the north, reaching the vicinity of Bering 
Strait, I found them numerous in the winter of 1879. They are much more unsuspicious than the 
preceding species, and will allow a very close approach, standing with their heads raised inquir- 
ingly and a pretty air of wonderment about them. In winter their beautiful milk-white plumage, 
with the sharply contrasted jet-black bill and bar through the eye, renders them very hand- 
some objects, particularly when seen in life. Their shape and movements on the ground are also 
much more graceful and elegant than those of the ordinary Ptarmigan. They exist in far smaller 
numbers than the White Ptarmigan, and their range is more restricted, owing to the low and little 
varied character of the northern coast country. Wherever low mountains or hills occur throughout 
the northern portion of the territory, however, this bird may be confidently expected to occur. On 
the Aleutian Islands it is represented by forms which are mentioned below, and the Siberian shore 
has a form perhaps identical with this; but, as Professor Nordenskiéld records those taken by the 
Vega party at their winter quarters as L. subalpinus, this name is accepted as applying to the North- 
eastern Siberian bird, since there are no specimens at hand from that region. 
LAGOPUS RUPESTRIS (Gm.) Leach. 
(79.) Rock PTARMIGAN. 
On the Island of Ounalaska, thence to the eastward and also to the westward for an uncertain 
distance, oceurs the handsome Ptarmigan designated above. Of this form there are but two 
specimens in existence in the summer plumage. These are a male and female obtained by me on 
the hills back of Ounalaska in the spring of 1877. The winter bird, of which the Smithsonian 
possesses a single example obtained by Mr. Dall, is indistinguishable from the winter plumage of 
the ordinary Rock Grouse. This specimen lacks the black border through the eye, but this 
character appears to be merely individual. This is the species which in Mr, Dall’s papers on the 
birds of the Aleutian Islands he designated as the White Ptarmigan, Lagopus albus, and in 
the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club for 187 I recorded the capture of the two 
specimens previously mentioned under the name of Lagopus rupestris. 
Beyond the mere capture of the bird there is little known of its habits, the only data which I 
ean furnish being that it frequents the mountain tops and slopes among the Eastern Aleutian 
Islands, and is common there, breeding during June. 
The detailed description of this form will be given in the account of the Birds of Alaska, now 
in course of preparation. 
H. Ex. 105 11 
