THE ROOK PTARMIGAN, 77 



9 



Franklin Bay, on the Arctic coast, several dry, swampy, mossy, and peaty 

 plains were passed before reaching the 'Barren Grounds' proper. The country 

 thence to the height of land between the Anderson and the deep gorge- 

 like valley through which the Wilmot Horton River (MacFarlane River of 

 Petitot's map) flows, as well as from the 'crossing' of the latter to the high 

 plateau which forms the western sea-bank of Franklin Bay, consists of vast 

 plains or steppes of a flat or undulating character, diversified by some small 

 lakes and gently sloping eminences, not dissimilar in appearance to portions of the 

 Northwest prairies. In the region here spoken of, however, the ridges occasion- 

 ally assume a mound-like hilly character, while one or two intersecting affluents 

 of the Wilmot Horton flow through valleys in which a few stunted spruce, birch, 

 and willows appear at intervals. On the banks of one of these, near its mouth, 

 we observed a sheltered grove of spruce and willows of larger growth, wherein 

 moose and musk oxen had frequently browsed. We met with no more spruce, 

 nor any traces of the moose to the eastward, and I doubt if many stragglers 

 range beyond latitude 69 north. 



"The greater part of the Barren Grounds is every season covered with 

 short grasses, mosses, and small flowering plants, while patches of sedgy or 

 peaty soil occur at longer or shorter distances. On these, as well as along the 

 smaller rivulets, river and lake banks, Labrador tea, cranberries, and a few 

 other kinds of berries, dwarf birch, willows, etc., grow. Large, flat spaces had 

 the honeycombed appearance usually presented in early spring by laud which 

 has been turned over in autumn. There were few signs of vegetation on 

 these, while some sandy and many other spots were virtually sterile. * * * 

 These Barren Grounds are chiefly composed of a peaty, sandy, clavey, or 

 gravelly soil, but stones are rare and rock in situ (limestone?) was encountered 

 only two or three times on the line of march from the woods to the coast." 1 



This description will give the reader a good idea of the summer home of 

 the Rock Ptarmigan; and while its food differs probably but slightly from that 

 of the Willow Ptarmigan, it must necessarily be restricted to a much smaller 

 variety. Their nests, usually placed among the dwarf brush or sedge-covered 

 patches of the tundras on these barrens, are much harder to find than those 

 of the latter, and the U. S. National Museum is almost entirely indebted to 

 the indefatigable Mr. R. MacFarlaiie for the handsome series of eggs of this 

 species in the collection, all of which, with the exception of a single set, were 

 obtained by him. 



'Nidification begins about the middle of May in Alaska, and correspond- 

 ingly later in the Barren Grounds, usually from June 15 to July 10. But a 

 single brood is raised in a season. The number of eggs to a set varies from six 

 to ten, rarely more, and usually but seven or eight are laid. These are ovate 

 or short ovate in form, resembling the eggs of Lagopus lagopus considerably 

 both in color and markings, but they average smaller. The majority are 

 readily distinguished from those of the latter, the markings as a rule being 



1 Canadian Record of Science, January, 1890, pp. 52, 53. 



