182 AMERICAK GAME BIRD SHOOTIJSTG. 



they are so tame that they Avill not fly sometimes even 

 when a person is in their midst. When the hmd is 

 open they may, however, be readily detected, as their 

 color presents a strong contrast to the surrounding rocks. 



The willow grouse, or i^tarmigan {L. albus), is only 

 found in a few places in the eastern i^art of the United 

 States, but it is very abundant in British America and 

 Alaska, for large numbers are snared annually by the 

 Aleutians and other tribes of the latter country. It is dis- 

 tinctly a northern bird, being scarce south of the forty- 

 ninth parallel, and met with only in a few places. It is 

 so common throughout Canada, except in the barren 

 grounds, where it can tind neither food nor shelter, that 

 it is barrelled and shipped to London, where it is fre- 

 quently sold as the Scotch moor-cock, which it resembles 

 so much that few ordinary jjersons can distinguish them 

 apart. The flesh of both looks and tastes alike in the 

 early part of the season, but, at a later period, the bird 

 of Scotia is deemed to be the better of the two, on ac- 

 count of the character of its food, which does not give it 

 the bitter taste of the other. 



The willow ptarmigan turns to a snowy whiteness in 

 winter, the only parts which show any coloration being 

 the tail, which is composed of fourteen glossy black feath- 

 ers, with white tips; the shafts of the primaries, which 

 are dusky-brown; and the tips over the eyes, which are 

 scarlet-red; but as soon as the snow disappears the plu- 

 mage undergoes a most rapid and decided change in hue. 

 Isolated patches of yellowish-brown first appear among 

 the white on the sides, and these gradually increase in 

 size until they blend together and form a deep fulvous- 

 brown, the head, throat, and neck assuming a cinnamon 

 rufous, and all being barred with black. The hens do 

 not differ much in hue from the males, but they fre- 

 quently don their spring attire a fortnight earlier, so 

 that it is not unusual to see a gallant, arrayed in his 



