2/1 Elliot, Nczv Ptarmigans from Alaska. \\tn 



July 10, ii, and 12 she laid eggs measuring .93 X .69, .94 X .68, 

 and .88 X .69 in. I now supposed that she was through with her 

 remarkable production of eggs, but to my astonishment on July 25, 

 26, and 27 she again laid, the eggs measuring .93 X .67, .89 X 

 .64 and .90 x .65 respectively. This ended the production of 

 eg°;s for this year. In August I tried to put the male in the cage 

 with the fema'e, and this time they managed to get along without 

 quarreling, and have been kept in one cage ever since. 



It was very interesting to observe the moulting of the male, and 

 see him gradually take on the adult plumage. July 20 a few 

 orange colored feathers could be observed on his head near the 

 base of the bill ; these gradually grew until on August 1, his drab 

 colored head feathers were all replaced by orange colored ones. 

 July 25 a few orange feathers were noted on his throat, and these 

 grew and replaced the old ones until on September 5 the moult 

 was competed. The feathers of the head, throat, etc., are of a 

 peculiar orange color instead of the beautiful red hue which char- 

 acterizes the wild birds of the same sex. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF AN APPARENTLY NEW SPECIES 



AND SUBSPECIES OF PTARMIGAN FROM 



THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 



BY D. G. ELLIOT, F. R. S. E. 



Plate III. > 



During a late visit to Washington my friend Mr. R. Ridgway 

 kindly allowed me to examine the extensive series of Ptarmi- 

 gan in the collection of the Nation il Museum with permission 

 to describe any novelties I mi;ht discover, and the two appa- 

 rently new forms nam id in this paper are the results of my 

 investigations. 



1 The publication of this plate is necessarily deferred till the July number. 



