86 TETRAONID^E. 



found on the mountains which attain an elevation of about 

 3,000 feet in the vicinity of the Imandra Lake on the Kola 

 Peninsula. Hoffman* found it breeding on the high ground 

 near the source of the Petchora in lat. 62 N., and obtained 

 five specimens between lat. 61 and 66 N. In Arctic 

 Siberia, Middendorf found a species of Ptarmigan occupying 

 the generally flat northern portion of Siberia from 66 N. 

 in winter, up to 71 N. in summer, as far east as the Taimyr 

 Peninsula, and, whilst calling it L. mutus, he expressed sur- 

 prise at finding it so similar to L. rupestris. It was sub- 

 sequently suggested by Professor Newton that the examples 

 of Ptarmigan obtained by Mr. H. Seebohm in 71J N. lat, 

 on the Yenesei, might actually belong to the latter : 

 a view which comparison appears to have confirmed. 

 Lagopus rupestris, the Hock-Ptarmigan of authors,t is 

 a form which in all plumages except the white garb of 

 winter, is browner than L. mutus, and which also inha- 

 bits lower and more level ground. I Its range was already 

 known to reach right across the northern portions of 

 America from the shores of Behring's Straits to Newfound- 

 land, Greenland, and also to Iceland ; but its presence in 

 Arctic Siberia from Behring's Straits on the east to the 

 Yenesei in the west, and probably further, coupled with the 

 fact that it does not enter Europe, points to a barrier caused 

 by important physical changes on the eastern side of the Ural. 

 It now appears probable that the Ptarmigan recorded by 

 Messrs. Blakiston and Pryer, as found in Northern Japan (Ibis, 

 1878, p. 226), and more recently in the Kurile Islands, may 

 also be L. rupestris. On the other hand, the birds found 

 by Hadde on the Sochondo, at from 7,500 to 8,000 feet 

 altitude, and those observed by Dybowski on the Sayansk 



* ' Der Nordliche Ural, Wirbeltbiere,' p. 68. 



t H. Seebohm, 'Ibis,' 1879, p. 148. 



t Selby (Rep. Brit. Ass. 1834, p. 611) recorded L. rupestris as having been 

 killed on the Benmore ridge in Sutherlandshire ; supposing, no doubt, that the 

 orange-yellow dress, which is now well known to be assumed in summer by the 

 female of L. mutus, was peculiar to the former species ; and not being aware that 

 Ptarmigan from the higher ground are smaller than those from lower elevations. 

 (Of. J. A. Harvie-Brown, Pr. Nat, Hist. Soc. Glasgow, 1875, p. 107.) 



