THE PTARMIGAN 105 



of the main range without being able to get within 

 gunshot, or force them to take wing.'* 



The ptarmigan known as Welch's ptarmigan inhabits 

 Newfoundland. It is described as a dark-grayish bird, 

 with a bluish tinge on the plumage, which has been 

 likened to the color of the sooty-grouse (the blue- 

 grouse), while all the feathers are dotted with blackish 

 white. 



Like all the others it is white in winter. At the 

 time the check list of the American Ornithological 

 Union was published there were listed no fewer than 

 eight species and sub-species of the ptarmigan. Elliot 

 in his recent book mentions two more, and "still they 

 come " no doubt, or will come, as the various Aleutian 

 islands are explored by ornithologists who delight in 

 making new varieties. They might all belong to one 

 flock, however, in winter, except the one called the 

 white-tail ; and the summer dress changes so rapidly in 

 all the species when they begin to turn white, that the 

 various piebald specimens of a single species might 

 well delight the ornithologist looking always for the 

 new. 



It does not require the imagination of a Jules Verne 

 to picture a game preserve occupying an Alaskan 

 island, where the great Northern bears, both grizzly 

 and polar, may be shot the same day with the small 

 white grouse by the sportsman who has come from 

 San Francisco on his yacht. 



