380 LABRADOR 



resembles in kind but not in quality the famous song of 

 the English skylark. 



Another common bird in this coastal strip is one that 

 is also a dweller farther south, an inhabitant of the eastern 

 United States ; namely, the savanna sparrow, and strangely 

 out of place does it seem here. 



In the more northern parts of the Arctic Zone of Labrador 

 are to be found the Lapland longspur, the wheatear, possibly 

 the white wagtail, the snow-bunting, snowy owl, rock 

 ptarmigan, Reinhardt's ptarmigan, the white, gray, and 

 black gyrfalcons, and the American rough-legged hawk, 

 although these four last-named birds may be found even 

 on the southern coast. 



The American rough-legged hawk is a splendid broad- 

 winged bird almost black in colour. It may sometimes be 

 seen poised motionless for several minutes at a time over 

 the brow of a hill, sustaining itself like a kite by the air 

 currents. The gyrfalcons have more pointed wings, and 

 the whiteness of the plumage of the white, or Iceland, species 

 makes it very conspicuous among the dark crags where 

 it nests. 



The two ptarmigans already mentioned, as well as the 

 willow ptarmigan, which is found in the region of tree growth 

 of the Hudsonian Zone, resemble their compatriot, the 

 Arctic hare, not only in becoming white in winter, but also 

 in possessing shaggy feet at this season, feet densely 

 tufted with hair in one case, with feathers in the other. 

 This tufting probably acts in the manner of snow-shoes 

 to prevent sinking into the deep snow, and not merely 

 to keep the feet warm. The generic name of the ptarmigan 

 is Lagopus, which means rabbit-footed. In the same way 



