WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN 197 



Mr. A. W. Anthony wrote to Captain Bendire: 

 "Twice have I escaped stepping upon a sitting ptarmi- 

 gan by only an inch or so, and once I reined in my- 

 horse at a time when another step would have crushed 

 out the life of a brood of nine chicks, but an hour or 

 so from the egg. In this case the parent crouched at 

 the horse's feet and, though in momentary danger of 

 being stepped on, made no attempt to escape until 

 I had dismounted and put out my hand to catch her. 

 She then fluttered to the top of a rock a few feet dis- 

 tant and watched me as I handled the young, constant- 

 ly uttering low, anxious protests. The chicks were 

 still too young to escape; mere little wet bunches of 

 down, that stumbled and fell over one another when 

 they attempted to run. 



"Miners in whom I have confidence told me that they 

 have lifted sitting ptarmigan from the nest and han- 

 dled the eggs, while the bird stood but a few feet dis- 

 tant, watching her treasures and uttering an occasional 

 squeak like a sitting hen. One which had her nest 

 near the trail between the cabin and the mine was an- 

 noyed in this way so often that she would attempt to 

 regain the nest while the eggs were being handled, and 

 had to be frequently pushed aside. She never failed 

 to peck at the hand and utter her protesting ki-r-r-r-r 

 whenever one attempted to touch her, and made no 

 attempt to fly away." 



All the evidence given by people who have found 

 the nests of this bird indicates that the sitting female 



