

ROCK PTARMIGAN 189 



of the surrounding vegetation that usually when dis- 

 covered she is seen only by accident. 



In Alaska the eggs are laid in May and in the Bar- 

 ren Grounds somewhat later, usually between the mid- 

 dle of June and July. The eggs are quite like those 

 of the willow ptarmigan, but are slightly smaller. The 

 ground color runs from cream color to yellowish, and 

 the spots and blotches vary from a dark brown to a 

 claret red. Sometimes these spots are so numerous as 

 almost to hide the ground color. 



Reinhardt's ptarmigan, a sub-species of the rock 

 grouse, is found in Greenland and throughout Labra- 

 dor, and Mr. L. M. Turner, whose notes on the birds 

 of Labrador and Ungava are so familiar to ornitholo- 

 gists, tells us about all that is known of it. He says 

 that it prefers open ground, and rarely enters even the 

 skirts of the wooded tracts. 



"The mating season begins in May, and during this 

 period the male acts in the strangest manner to secure 

 the affection of its mate. He does not launch high 

 in the air and croak like the willow ptarmigan, but 

 runs around his prospective bride with tail spread, 

 wings dragging like those of the common turkey, or 

 else with head and neck stretched out and breast in 

 contact with the ground, pushing himself in this man- 

 ner by the feet, which are extended behind. The male 

 at this time ruffles every feather of his body, twists his 

 neck in various positions, and the supra-orbital pro- 

 cesses are swollen and erect. He utters a most peculiar 

 sound, something like a growling kurr-kurr, and as 



