Nov., 1900]. BIRDS OF THE KOTZEBUE SOUND REGION. 33 



walking away from the hunter, they were more vulnerable. The food of the 

 ptarmigan during the winter consisted entirely of buds and the tenderer twigs 

 of dwarf alder and willow. The crops of the birds shot were often found to be 

 greatly distended by an almost dry mass of this stuff. The long nights, when 

 the birds are inactive, seem to afford the necessary time for the digestion of such 

 an amount of material. Occasionally a few spruce needles were also found. 

 The gizzards of the birds obtained, invariably contained a quantity of small 

 polished pieces of clear quartz, this probably being the hardest substance for the 

 purpose obtainable by the birds. A bare place on a sand-bar in the river, kept 

 clear of snow by the wind, was wont to be frequently visited by the ptarmigan 

 and I have seen them scratching over the gravel in such places, even in the cold- 

 est mid- winter weather. The weight of a male taken in April was i]A. pounds. 

 The moults of the Willow Ptarmigan in this region, as indicated by my series 

 of skins, takes place as follows: The changes from summer to winter plumage 

 begin in August, and go on until well into October. Three specimens taken on 

 October 6th have the back, upper tail-coverts, breast, head and neck all around 

 still chiefly dark, though many white feathers are mixed in; the rest of the lower 

 parts and the wings including their coverts are entirely white. The birds in this 

 plumage closely resemble in distribution of color the females of May 20th or 

 thereabouts. It will thus be seen that the moult in the fall advances in just the 

 reverse order from that in the spring, but giving the same protective distribution 

 of coloration, that is, dark above and light beneath. Of three birds taken on Oc- 

 tober 12th one is entirely white, excepting of course the black tail-feathers, 

 though many new feathers on the head and neck are just unsheathing. The 

 other birds still retain several dark feathers on the back, head and scap- 

 ulars. The new white feathers when fresh have a very noticeable pink blush, 

 which, however, soon fades. Both sexes in the fall apparently undergo moulting 

 at the same time. But in the spring the male precedes the female by three 

 weeks or more. The first appearance of dark feathers is evidenced in two males 

 taken on April 4th. These have many dark feathers in the head and fore-neck 

 just unsheathing. Two males, April 6th, have conspicuously dark-feathered 

 necks. April 13th presents males with the neck all around and breast fully dark- 

 feathered. And so on successively until April 26th, when the first males in per- 

 fect courting plumage were secured. They have the whole neck and chest all 

 around deep rich chestnut abruptly defined against the white of the rest of the 

 body. The fore parts of the males are in this plumage until June 14th, when the 

 first barred feathers of the summer plumage are appearing in the fore-neck. A 

 specimen of May 14th, however, presents a few summer feathers in the 

 back, scapulars and upper tail-coverts. Males taken on June 17th 



have the upper parts entirely dark, head and neck with many barred 

 summer feathers, and al.so many appearing on the sides and flanks. A male 

 taken on July loth is completely in the summer plumage; the white tips of the 

 black tail-feathers are worn ofl", a very few white feathers still persist in the lower 

 parts, and, besides the white wing-quills which never change, being moulted 

 but once a year, in the fall, a few primary coverts only are white. A few of the 

 uniformly dark brown feathers of the courting plumage are still in the breast. 

 The male Willow Ptarmigan thus undergoes at least three distinct moults dijring 



