BIRDS. 



139 



Southern White-tailed Ptarmigan : Lagopus leucurus cdti- 

 [K'tens. — One of the most interestino; birds of the Avorkl, whose 

 Arctic-Alpine habitat makes its acquaintance impossible for most 

 of us, in Glacier Park is found close to the trails frequented by the 

 tourist, ^Yhere a half hour's walk from a chalet may att'ord a study 

 whose intimacy is limited only by the patience of the observer. As 

 I had hunted vainly for ptarmigan over cloud-swept ridges in New 

 Mexico, it was doubh?^ exciting to be told of a nest on the Granite 

 Park trail " in the grass near the trail by the first snow bank." 

 AYhen we got there the brood had apparently gone, but as we 

 crossed Swiftcurrent Pass Mr. Bailey pronounced the slopes on the 

 south side "ideal ptarmigan slopes," and so, after our dinner at 



Copinghtby n R \\-\ 



(. ourl s\ c.l H i 



Fig. 44. — Mother ptarmigan and chicks. 



the chalet, when he returned to climl) the peak on the north side of 

 the pass, I accompanied him to make my way up the slopes of the 

 south peak looking for the birds. Skirting an acre of snow, I zig- 

 zagged back and forth over the face of the " ideal ptarmigan slope," 

 open to swift-winged enemies, but by its broken surface and variety 

 of colors affording a safe background for ptarmigan in the mixed sum- 

 mer plumage. Even the wide expanse of slide rock was broken 

 by occasional dwarf evergreens and streaks of grass, and many of 

 its red shales were patterned with lemon-yellow or curly-brown 

 lichen covering deep ripple marks. Above the main mass of slide 

 was a wide grassy slope of soft yelloAvish broAvn tones that would 

 soon match the brown of the ptarmigan. Above this the narrow 



