456 NORTH AMEIUCAN JURDS. 



spnice butls, tlioir fli^sli is said to be delicious; hut al'ter the snow shuts them 

 uir liom other I'ood tliey feed on the fir buds, and then their tlesh ucijuires 

 a strong ilavor of turpentine. 



In tlie tree this (house is not an easy bird to discover; so closely does its 

 lilnniai,'e roseniblo tlie lichen-covered bark that it is diilicult to distinguish 

 them, esjK'tially as, when alarmed, they crouch down lengthwise with the 

 linil), and thus become concealed. 



Genus LAGOPUS, A'ieii.lot. 



Lagopus, Vieillot, Analysp, 1810. (Type, Telnw hifjupus, L.) 



Gf.n. Char. Nasal groove diMiscly clotliotl with feathor.^. Tail of sixteen or eijfliteen 

 feathers. Le},'s closely feathered to tliu claws. The northern species snow white in 

 winter. 



The rtarmigaiis inhabit the northern regions of both hemispheres, and 

 with Ihe Arctic fox and hares, the lennuings, and a few other species, charac- 

 terize the Arctic zone. They aws of rare occurrence witiiin the limits 

 of the United States, though farther north they become abundant. The 

 species all change to white in winter, except L. acoticus, which appears to be 

 merely a permanently dark, soutiiern, insidar form of L. alius. (See Alfred 

 Newton in I'roceedings of the Philadelphia Academy, July, 1871, pp. DC, 97.) 



Species and Varieties. 



\. Tail-feathers always with more or less hlaek. 



1. Ii. mutUB. Bill small, .slender, the lenfrth from the nasal groove to the tip 

 deeiiit'dly mure than the height through the base. Male in winter witli a 

 black stripe on the lores. 



^ in snnnner with nniform black leathers on tlie breast; autumn.al 

 jilinnuge blui.sh-gr.w, mottled. Huh. Norlliern Europi; . . \:u: m utus. 



^ in summer without uniform black feathers on the lireast. Autumnal 

 plumage orauge-nifous. Hub. Northern North America; Greenland; 



Iceland var. r ujtesiris. 



•J. L. albus. Bill large, stout; tiie length from the nasal groove less, or not 

 more, than tlio liciglit through the biuso. Male in winter without black 

 stripe on lores. Hah. Northern Europe and northern North America. 

 B. Tail-feathers entirely pure white. , 



;i. L. leucuniB. Winter plumage wholly white. Hah. Alpine summitfi of 

 the Western mountain-ranges, from Colorado to Oregon and Washington, 

 and north into British America. 



