174 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



greatest number recorded ; and we had reason to know 

 that some, at least, of the nests were used by ptarmigan 

 several seasons in succession. When very closely ap- 

 proached as stated, the female would frequently flut- 

 ter off, sometimes spreading her wings and ruffling 

 her feathers, as if to attack or frighten away intrud- 

 ers, and at other times calling out in distressed tones, 

 and acting as if she had been severely wounded. 



"In one instance, where an Indian collector had 

 found a nest which contained seven eggs, he placed a 

 snare thereon ; but on returning to the spot a few hours 

 afterward, he was surprised to find that six of the 

 eggs had disappeared in the interim, and as no egg- 

 shells were left behind they were in all probability re- 

 moved by the parents to a safer place. The male bird 

 is generally not far away from the nest, and his pe- 

 culiar hoarse and prolonged note is frequently heard, 

 the more especially between the hours of 10 P.M. and 

 2 A.M. Both, however, displayed great courage and 

 devotion in protecting from capture their young, which 

 we often encountered on our return coast trips. 



"About the end of September, during October, and 

 early in November L. lagopus assembles in great 

 flocks, but during the winter it was seldom that more 

 than two or three dozen were ever noticed in single 

 companies. They are, however, most winters very 

 numerous in the neighborhood of Fort Good Hope and 

 other Hudson's Bay Company posts in the Mackenzie 

 River district; but as spring sets in, they begin to mi- 

 grate northward, and it is very doubtful if many breed 



