84 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 56 
pee 
Dendragapus obscurus obscurus (Say). Dusky Grouse. 
The informants’ description of f° fits this species well. This 
large grouse is common in the Jemez Mountains and is said to come 
down into the canyons about El Rito de los Frijoles in large numbers 
in the autumn. It is one of the important food birds of the region 
and is probably to be found breeding in all the mountains of north- 
central New Mexico. <A few flocks were seen by McCall in the moun- 
tains from Santa Fe to Tacs.! 
perk ee 
Lagopus leucurus leucurus (Swainson). White-tailed Ptarmigan. 
Under the name Lagopus leucurus altipetens Osgood this bird has 
been reported in the Pecos Mountains and the mountains about 
Taos,? but that form is considered indistinguishable from leucurus. 
The species has been reported from Summit Peak, Colo., west of the 
Rio Grande,’ so that it may occur on the western side of the valley 
in New Mexico. The ptarmigan is a bird of high latitude and high 
altitude, preferring the region of perpetual snow. It is exceedingly 
probable that during the latter part of the glacial epoch, when 
glaciers extended down most of the upper mountain valleys of 
Colorado and northern New Mexico, the snow-line was much lower, 
and the regular range of the ptarmigan, leucosticte, and other birds 
of alpine habit extended to elevations perhaps several thousand feet 
lower than at present, and probably considerably farther south. By 
the retreat of the glaciers their range has been gradually restricted 
so that now only a few are left on the higher peaks. It is likely that 
the ptarmigan was known to the ancient inhabitants of the Pajarito 
Plateau, and it may have occurred in considerable numbers at the 
head of the Rito, especially during the winter, 10 or 20 centuries ago. 
| 
Oentrocercus urophasianus (Bonaparte). Sage Hen. 
Reported at Tierra Amarilla by Henshaw.‘ Parts of the Rio 
Grande Valley are well suited to this bird. If it formerly occurred in 
numbers, its large size would have made it an important addition to 
the diet of the inhabitants. 
Di: (akin to Isleta diause). 
Pi-ydi: (pin, mountain; di’, turkey, chicken). 
Meleagris gallopavo merriami Nelson. Merriam’s Turkey. 
The uncompounded di’ is now applied mostly to the introduced 
domestic fowl or chicken and not to turkey as it doubtlessly was 
formerly. P7'y, ‘mountain,’ is usually prejoined to distinguish turkeys 
1 McCall, George A., op. cit., p. 222. 
2 Bailey, Florence Merriam, Notes from Northern New Mexico, The Auk, Xx, pp. 316-18, 1905. Addi- 
tional Notes on the Birds of the Upper Pecos, ibid., xxI, pp. 351-52, 1904. 
3 Henshaw, H. W., Note on Lagopus leucurus and Leucostiete australis, The Auk, Xx, pp. 315-16, 1905. 
4 Henshaw, H. W., Report upon Ornithological Collections, ete., op. cit., p. 437. 
