1 94 Brewster on the Ruck Ptarmigan of Newfoundland. [April 



age and season, and supposing them to be merely our common 

 L. rupcstris, with the summer plumage of which I was then 

 unfamiliar, I bought only a single pair for my collection. It 

 turns out, however, that they are not only distinct from rupestris, 

 but very different from any other known form. As there is good 

 evidence that their habitat is strictly isolated, intergradation with 

 any of their allies is so improbahle that I have thought it best to 

 describe the bird as a full species, which I name after the col- 

 lector of my types. 



Lagopus welchi, nov. spec. 



Sp. char. — $ adult, summer plumage (No. 8246, Coll. W. B. New- 

 foundland, June 25, 1SS3. George O. Welch). Throat, wings (except 

 inner secondaries), legs, and central portions of the body below from 

 the breast to the crissum, white: jugulum, prsepectus and sides dark 

 brownish-gray ; entire upper parts still darker gray, many of the feathers 

 having black centres; all the feathers of the dark areas of the body, both 

 above and below, tipped with white and crossed by numerous fine, wavy, 

 more or less broken lines of white, grayish-white, and grayish-ochraceous ; 

 feathers of the head, neck, and sides more broadly tipped and barred, 

 giving these parts a lighter appearance; tail uniform deep grayish- 

 plumbeous with narrow spaces of concealed white at the bases of all the 

 feathers and a rather broad white tipping on the central pair; upper 

 tail-coverts like the back: under coverts plumbeous tipped with white; 

 a broad, conspicuous, black loral stripe ; bill and claws black. Wing. 

 7.48; tail, 4.95; tarsus, 1.40; culmen from base. .97; culmen from 

 nostril, .40. 



Adult ? (No. S24S, Coll. W. B. Newfoundland. May 19, 1883. Georg e 

 O. Welch). Similar, but lacking the black loral stripe, and of generally 

 lighter color; the transverse lines broader, whiter, and in places yellower, 

 those of the breast and under tail-coverts being clear but pale orange- 

 yellow. The shafts of the primaries, also, are brown instead of white, 

 as in the $• Wing. 6.98; tail, 4.15; tarsus, 1,50; culmen from base, 

 .85; culmen from nostril, .42. 



Habitat : — Newfoundland. 



The colors in the male of this Ptarmigan are confused and 

 blended to such a degree that a detailed description, however 

 carefully drawn, fails to do them justice. The general effect is 

 that of a dark, grayish-plumbeous bird (colored not unlike the 

 Oregon form of the Dusky Grouse), plentifully besprinkled with 

 fine dots of 'pepper-and-salt color." Dr. Stejneger, who has 

 yerv kindly compared both specimens with the extensive ma- 

 terial in the National Museum, writes me as follows regarding 

 them : 



