176 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



GENUS LAGOPUS BRISSON. 

 LAGOPUS LAGOPUS (LINN.). 



130. Willow Ptarmigan. (301) 



Bill, stout, as high as the distance from the nasal groove to its tip; in 

 summer, rufous or orange-chestnut on the head and neck; the feathers of the 

 back, black, barred rather closely with yellowish -brown and chestnut. In 

 winter, white; the tail, black, tipped with white. Length, 15-17; wing, about 

 8; tail, 5.50. 



HAB. Arctic America, south to Sitka and Labrador. 



Nest, on the ground, a slight depression, lined with grass, leaves and a few 

 feathers. 



Kggs, ten to fifteen, fawn color, spotted with reddish-brown. 



Ptarmigans are found both in the Old and New Worlds, as far 

 north as vegetation extends, and so thoroughly boreal are they in 

 their habits, that they seldom come within the bounds of civilization. 

 G. J. Bampton, Registrar of the District of Algoma, who has fur- 

 nished me with many interesting notes regarding the birds of that 

 remote district, mentions the Willow Ptarmigan as a rare winter 

 visitor at Sault Ste. Marie. 



Their southern migrations depend, to some extent, on the pecu- 

 liarities of the season, but usually they are common winter visitors 

 throughout Manitoba and the North- West, and Dr. Bell reports them 

 as common every winter near Fort Cumberland, in the Hudson's Bay 

 region. 



In Alaska, the species is a summer resident, frequenting the 

 extensive open country, being most abundant along the barren sea 

 coast region of Behring Sea and the Arctic. The birds assemble 

 there in immense flocks, and we might suppose that in those forlorn 

 lands, so seldom visited by their greatest enemy, man, the birds enjoy 

 a time of peace and security, but it appears from Mr. Nelson's 

 account that such is not always the case. He says : "Among the 

 Alaskan natives, both Eskimo and Indian, especially those in the 

 northern two-thirds of the Territory, this bird is one of the most 

 important sources of food supply, and through the entire winter it is 

 snared and shot in great abundance, and many times it is the only 

 defence the people possess against the ever-recurring periods of 

 scarcity and famine." 



In some districts the Eskimo have a way of catching the birds 

 during their migration which is very destructive. Taking a long 

 fishing net, they fasten poles to it at regular distances apart, and lay 



