142 HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN FAUNA. 



Arctic North America, it is known to breed. The 

 third species, Steller's Eider (S. Stelleri), seems to be 

 still rarer, and only in the Aleutian islands and in the 

 north of Alaska can it be said to be at all abundant. 

 It is probable that the famous Great Auk (Alca 

 impennis, Fig. 9) also was a typical Arctic species. 

 Its range extended to both sides of the Atlantic. In 

 Newfoundland and on the coast of Iceland it is known 

 to have been met with in considerable numbers 

 within historic times; and no doubt, like all Arctic 

 species, it extended farther southwards at a more 

 remote period. 



The members of the genus Lagopus, including the 

 various species of Grouse, are likewise of northern 

 origin. The British Red Grouse (L. scoticiis), which 

 may be looked upon as a form of the Scandinavian 

 Willow Grouse (L. albus) (compare p 91), constitutes 

 in some respects a curious case of parallelism with 

 the Arctic Hare, since the latter, in its more southern 

 station, generally retains the summer fur throughout 

 the year. The allied Ptarmigan (L. mutus] inhabits 

 Scandinavia, the Ural Mountains, and some of the 

 Asiatic mountain ranges. It is also found in the 

 European Alps and in the Pyrenees. The North 

 European range of the Ptarmigan suggests that 

 we are dealing with an ancient species which came 

 south from the Arctic Regions at about the same 

 time as the Arctic Hare; but it is more probable, 

 as I have shown in a subsequent chapter (p. 334), 

 that this species has entered Europe more recently 



