SHARP-TAILED GROUSE, ETC. 



193 



very singular fact that, excepting in winter, no two 

 sportsmen will give the same description of the white- 

 tailed ptarmigan. This is because the bird, from March 

 to September, is in a continual moult. In winter, the 

 only distinction in plumage between the two species is to 

 be found in the black tail and primaries of the willow 

 ptarmigan. The white-tailed ptarmigan 

 is the smallest of its genus. In size, it 

 is between the common quail and ruffed 

 grouse; in shape, it agrees with the 

 partridge, especially as to head and 

 tail. The toes are partially feathered 

 in summer, and in winter are com- 

 pletely covered with a fine white down. 

 Four times in each 

 year does the bird 

 change its appear- 

 ance. In winter it is a 

 pure white, and so 

 thick is the covering ^ 

 of feathers that it ap-| 

 pears to be quite a! 

 good-sized chicken, 

 but when killed it is 

 found to be a very 

 small wild fowl. In 

 July, although it may be in tirst-rate condition, it may 

 appear quite poor. The upper parts of the male are a yel- 

 lowish gray, coarsely blurred with black, and the breast is 

 a dirty white, cross-barred with black. The whole appear- 

 ance is as though the ptarmigan needed a bath to show 

 off his true colors; but this is not the case, for he 

 indulges in a snow-bath several times each day, taking 

 to a dry, northerly snow-bank as naturally as does a 

 domestic fowl to a dusty road. The female looks very 



13 



