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



35 



ptarmigan. The natives capture the birds in winter by snaring. A 

 stretch of thick willow brush is selected, and numerous sinew nooses fixed 

 between the upright stems close to the snow. The ptarmigan in pushing their 

 way through the brush seem to have acquired the firm habit of trying to force 

 their way between the upright twigs, even if a very tight squeeze, rather than 

 backing out and trying another opening. This unfortunate habit is the undoing 

 of the birds, for when they encounter a sinew noose, a very little forcing tightens 

 the noose irrevocably, and they soon strangle. 



Lagopus rupestris (Gmel.). 

 Rock Ptarmigan. 



I first met with this species on September 17, '98, about the summit of the 

 Jade Mountains on the north side of the Kowak Valley. On that day I saw three 

 flocks of 6, 7 and 20 birds, respectively. In each case they were flushed from 

 ridges at some distance, and were probably feeding on heath and blue-berries 

 which fairly covered the ground on favorable slopes. At a distance the birds 

 appeared to be entirely white, at this date, though no specimens were obtained, 

 i rather think the summer plumage of the Rock Ptarmigan is of much shorter 

 duration than that of the Willow Ptarmigan in the lowlands. The Rock Ptarmi- 

 gan, according to my experience, are confined exclusively to the higher hill-tops 

 and mountains in summer, and at such elevations the snow remains later in the 

 spring and comes much earlier in the fall than in the valley, leaving a very brief 

 summer. No Rock Ptarmigan w-ere detected in the Kowak Valley until February 

 nth. On account of the light snow-fall in the early part of the winter, they 

 probably found sufficient forage on the mountain sides up to this date. However, 

 during March and April flocks of from a dozen to a hundred were often met with 

 in the lowlands. These flocks could be traced up by following their tracks, 

 especially if the snow was freshly fallen or laid by the wind. Then tracks of a 

 large flock of Rock Ptarmigan would form a broad swath and extend across the 

 tundra for miles, the individual lines of tracks zigzagging back and forth so as to 

 take in every willow twig or bunch of grass sticking up through the snow, but all 

 tending in the same general direction. The birds, when qn these feeding marches 

 apparently seldom take flight unless disturbed, and I have foUow^ed these roads 

 from one set of "forms" in the snow, where the birds had passed the preceding 

 night to the second set of "forms" of the succeeding night, and then finally found 

 them, doubtless on their second day's walk without taking flight; except occasional 

 individuals left behind. The tracks of the Rock Ptarmigan are easily distinguish- 

 able from those of the Willow Ptarmigan by their much smaller size and the shorter 

 strides; and they seem not to be in the habit of dragging their middle toes over the 

 ground at each step, as evidenced by the tracks in the case of the Willow Ptarmi- 

 gan. A series of eighty Rock Ptarmigan from the Kowak Valley in winter plumage 

 show that in the female the transocular black stripe is never indicated nearly as 

 prominently as in the male, being, if present, much obscured by white; and in the 

 majority of cases there is no trace of black whatever on the lores of the female. 

 A curious thing was that the sexes apparently went in separate flocks. In Feb- 

 ruary and March large flocks entirely or mostly of males were encountered. On 

 April 15th a flock of fully one hundred Ruck Ptarmigan were seen and twenty-one 



