84 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



2,000 or 3,000 feet at most, seldom being found at a lower altitude than 

 s,<M)0 or 9,000 feet at any time. In the Rocky Mountain region it is gen- 

 i T;illy known by the very appropriate name of the "White" or "Snow" 



Quail. 



Mr. George Bird Grinnell has kindly furjiished me the following infor- 

 mation about this species: "I have found the White-tailed Ptarmigan in con- 

 siderable numbers in Colorado, Montana, and British Columbia. Where I 

 have seen them they have always been above timber line. Although on a 

 few occasions I have met with these birds in the late summer when the 

 young were little more than half grown and the broods were still together, 

 mv experience with them has been chiefly in the autumn when hunting 

 mountain sheep and white goats high up among the summits of the ranges. 

 At this season of the year they are usually found in small numbers, from 

 two to a half dozen being the ordinary size of the flocks. Last year, how- 

 ever (October, 1889), I came across a pack of these birds in the Cascade 

 Mountains of British Columbia, where there were twenty-five or thirty 

 together. In the autumn the birds are generally rather wild, and if nearly 

 approached become quite uneasy and run about, holding the tail elevated 

 and looking very much like a white Fan-tail Pigeon. At this season the 

 only cry that I have heard is a sharp cackle like that of a frightened hen. 

 This the bird begins to utter a short time before it takes wing, and con- 

 tinues it for quite a little while after having begun to fly. 



"On the high plateaus where this bird is found the wind often blows 

 with a tremendous sweep and is almost strong enough to throw down a 

 man. When such a wind is blowing the Ptarmigan dig out for themselves 

 little nests or hollows in the snow banks, in which they lie with their heads 

 toward the wind and quite protected from it. 



"Often on the rocky slopes where there is no snow they may be seen 

 lying crouched on the ground behind rocks or small stones, with their heads 

 directed to the quarter from which the wind blows. If startled from such 

 a place they all take wing at once, looking like a flock of white Pigeons, 

 and fly for a short distance, but as soon as they touch the ground again 

 they throw themselves flat on it behind the most convenient shelter. Among 

 the high mountains of the St. Mary's Lake region in Montana I have seen 

 birds of this species which were pure white by the 20th of September. On 

 the other hand, in the Cascade region of British Columbia, they have still a 

 good many brown spots in early October. I presume the change of plumage 

 varies with the locality and often with the individual bird." 



Mr. A. W. Anthony writes me as follows: "In southern Colorado, where 

 I have met with this species, nesting must begin some time from the first to 

 the middle of June, as I have found young birds but an hour or so from 

 the egg, from July 1 to the 18th. The nests I have seen were located in 

 the loose rocky debris of steep hillsides, a simple depression in the short fine 

 grass which grows in small patches between the rocks above the timber line 



