70 



LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



extending further south tliiiu latitude 55, and then only in the eastern por- 

 tions of its range, in Labrador and the shores of Hudson Bay. In winter these 

 birds are partly migratory, and are sometimes found in considerable numbers 

 as far south as latitude 50, and stragglers on rare occasions have been taken 

 within the northern borders of the United States. According to Richardson, 

 considerable numbers remain in the wooded tracts, as far north as latitude 67, 

 even in the coldest winters. 



Mr. E. W. Nelson states: "In the northern portions of their respective 

 range these Grouse are summer residents, frequenting the extensive open 

 country and being most abundant along the ban-en seacoast region of Bering 

 Sea and the Arctic coast; but in autumn, the last of August and during Sep- 

 tember, they unite in great flocks and migrate south to the sheltered banks of 

 the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers, and their numerous tributaries. In earl} 

 spring as the warmth of the returning sun begins to be felt, they troop back to 

 their breeding grounds once more. 



" During a large portion of the year these birds form one of the most 

 characteristic accompaniments of the scenery in the northern portion of Alaska. 

 During the winter season these birds extend their range south to Sitka and 

 Kadiak, from whence specimens in white plumage are in the U. S. National 

 Museum collection. 



"Toward the end of March, as the small bare spots commence to show on 

 the tundra, the Eskimo say, this will bring the Ptarmigan from the shelter 

 of the interior valleys, and their observation proves true. 



"At St. Michael these birds commence their love-making according to the 

 character of the season. In some years by the 1st of April their loud notes of 

 challenge are heard; but the recurrence of cold weather usually puts a tem- 

 porary stop to their proceedings. About the 5th or 15th of this month the first 

 dark feathers commence to appear about the heads and necks of the males. 

 During some seasons the males make scarcely any progress in changing their 

 plumage up to the middle of May, when I have frequently seen them with 

 only a trace of dark about the head and neck. In the spring of 1878 the first 

 males were heard calling on the 26th of April, and on April 27, in 1879, the 

 males were just commencing to moult, showing a few dark feathers, but the 

 seasons were unusually late. In autumn the change frequently commences 

 the last of September, and by the first of October it is well under way, the 

 winter moult being completed towards the end of this month. 



" At the Yukon mouth in the evening of May 24, these Ptarmigan were 

 heard uttering their hoarse notes all about. As we were sitting by the tent my 

 interpreter took my rifle, and going off a short distance worked a lump of snow 

 to about the size of one of these birds. Fixing a bunch of dark-brown moss 

 on one end of the snow to represent the bird's head, he set his decoy upon a 

 I tare mossy knoll; then retiring a short distance behind the knoll he began 

 imitating the call of the male until a bird came whirring along, and taking up 

 tiie gauntlet lit close by its supposed rival and fell a victim to the ruse. 



