348 LAG OP US ALB US. 



Here they spend their entire lives, feeding upon berries in summer and subsisting largely 

 on the leaves of their favorite spruce and hemlock, during winter; so largely, in fact, that 

 their feathers are redolent with the odor of the crushed leaves, while their flesh is quite 

 bitter. 



Audubon states that these birds were so tame, they could be knocked down with sticks 

 and this same fact is true at the present time, for I have known of instances where this 

 has been accomplished. The Spruce Grouse assemble in flocks through the autumn and 

 winter, but are at this time quite local in distribution, while they are more or less migra- 

 tory, moving from place to place; then as spring advances, break up into pairs. They 

 breed about the middle of May, placing the nest in some secluded locality. The young are 

 fully fledged by September, but do not acquire the size of their parents until late in the 

 following month. 



GENUS II. LAGOPUS. THE PTARMIGANS. 



GEN. Cn. Edyes of posterior maryin of sternum, not rounded. Costal process, truncated. Tip of keel, not projected 

 well forward. Tarsia, feathered to the toes. No elongated feathers on neck. 



Members of this genus inhabit either mountainous or cold barren regions. They are white in winter, but become 

 darker in summer. There are two species found within our limits. 



LAGOPUS ALBTTS. 

 White Ptarmigan. 

 Lagopus a/bus ACD., Syn.; 1839, 207. 



DESCRIPTION. . 



SP. CH. Form, robust. Size, quite large. Sternum, stout and quite wide at posterior margin. Tail and wings, 

 long. Bill, short, equaling in length, measured from nostril to tip, to height at base. Sexes, quite similar in color. 



COLOR. Adult in winter. White throughout, excepting tail which is black with the central feathers and tips of all, 

 white. Shafts of primaries, dark-brown in the center. 



Adult in summer. Head and neck, yellowish-red. Back, black, barred rather finely with yellowish-brown and chest- 

 nut, otherwise as in winter. Bill, black, iris, brown, feet, horn color, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



A winter bird before me, taken at St. John's Lake. Saguenay, Canada, has four or five narrow, black, transverse bars 

 back of the eye. i'or difference between this and the following, see observations under that species. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from Eastern North America. Length, IS'OO; stretch, 24'50; wing, 7'70; tail, 

 5-50; bill, -86; tarsus, 1'47. Longest specimen, 16'00; greatest extent of wing, 25-00; longest wing, 8'25; tail, G'OO; bill, 

 88; tarsus, 1 55. Shortest specimen, 14'00; smallest extent of wing, 24'00; shortest wing, 7' 15; tail, 5'00; bill, '75; tarsus, 

 1-40. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed on the ground. They are riot very elaborate structures, being composed of leaves, weeds, or other con- 

 venient material. 



Kyys, from eight to fifteen in number, rather oval in form, reddish-buff in color, spotted and mottled, usually quite 

 thickly, with large, confluent blotches of purplish-brown. Dimensions from riSxl'80 to l'20x 1'85. 



HABITS. 



Among the first birds for which I inquired when I visited the Magdalen Islands, were 

 the White Ptarmigans, but found that they did not occur there, excepting as rare winter 



