LAGOPUS. 319 



General Distribution. The Ptarmigan inhabits the moun- 

 tains of Europe, ranging from the Lofoten Islands, Scandi- 

 navia, and Finland northwards to the Kola Peninsula, and 

 extending eastwards to the Ural Mountains ; southwards to 

 the Pyrenees and apparently the mountains of Asturias and 

 Leon; also the Alps, Tyrol, Carinthia, and Styria. In Green- 

 land, Iceland, northern and central Asia, the Kurile Islands, 

 and Japan it is represented by a more rufous form, L.rupes- 

 tris. From Bering Island, the Commander Islands, the 

 Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and Arctic America, similar or 

 closely allied forms have been described under various names. 

 In Newfoundland a grey form, L. welchi, closely allied to 

 L. mutus, occurs. In Spitsbergen the larger and long-tailed 

 L. hyperboreus is resident, and in the Rocky Mountains of 

 North America a distinct species, L. leucurus, is met with. 



