WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN 197 
Mr. A. W. Anthony wrote to Captain Bendire: 
“Twice have I escaped stepping upon a sitting ptarmi- 
gan by only an inch or so, and once I reined in my 
horse at a time when another step would have crushed 
out the life of a brood of nine chicks, but an hour or 
so from the egg. In this case the parent crouched at 
the horse’s feet and, though in momentary danger of 
being stepped on, made no attempt to escape until 
I had dismounted and put out my hand to catch her. 
She then fluttered to the top of a rock a few feet dis- 
tant and watched me as I handled the young, constant- 
ly uttering low, anxious protests. The chicks were 
still too young to escape; mere little wet bunches of 
down, that stumbled and fell over one another when 
they attempted to run. 
“Miners in whom I have confidence told me that they 
have lifted sitting ptarmigan from the nest and han- 
dled the eggs, while the bird stood but a few feet dis- 
tant, watching her treasures and uttering an occasional 
squeak like a sitting hen. One which had her nest 
near the trail between the cabin and the mine was an- 
noyed in this way so often that she would attempt to 
regain the nest while the eggs were being handled, and 
had to be frequently pushed aside. She never failed 
to peck at the hand and utter her protesting ki-r-r-r-r 
whenever one attempted to touch her, and made no 
attempt to fly away.” 
All the evidence given by people who have found 
the nests of this bird indicates that the sitting female 
