AN AUTUMN VISIT TO SPITZBERGEN. 483 



September) are much more advanced towards winter plumage than 

 those obtained in 1881 (at the end of July), though still bj' no 

 means in good featber. Specimen No. 1, killed by Lieut. Stjern- 

 spetz at Cape Thordsen on Sept. 10th, has only three coloured 

 feathers remaining on the under side — one on the throat and two 

 on the upper part of the breast ; No. 3 (probably a forward male 

 bird of the year) has only about a dozen, in the same positions, 

 with two or three coloured feathers on the sides under the wings ; 

 and the others have rather more, down to No. 4 (young), which is 

 only white on the belly, quill-feathers of the wings, and upper 

 wing-coverts. No. 6 has the majority of the feathers on the back 

 coloured, while Nos. 1 and 3 have only a few coloured feathers 

 remaining. All the specimens, except No. 1, were shot by me at 

 Sassen Bay on Sept. 14th. They have two cceca given off about 

 four inches above the rectum, and each over a foot long. The 

 measurements of wings given by Messrs. Dresser and Sharpe 

 (' Birds of Europe') vary between 8'7 and 9'1 inches. The wings 

 of the specimens I brought home last year measure as follows (the 

 right wing being in each case measured) : — No. 1 (male), 8f in. ; 

 No. 2 (male), 9 in. ; No. 3 (young male), 8£ in. ; No. 4 (pull.), 7|in. ; 

 No. 5 (female), 8J- in. ; No. 6 (male), 8| in. The length of the 

 wings of my specimens of 1881 was given in my paper in 'The 

 Zoologist' for 1882 as " about 9| inches." This should have been 

 " about 9 inches." The only skin of the Willow Grouse I have 

 by me (a good male specimen) measures 8f inches in the wing. 

 The Common Ptarmigan measures, according to Dresser, from 

 7*2 to 7*8 inches in the wing. My specimens measure between 

 7\ and 7f inches. The following are the measurements of some 

 sterna : — L. hemileucurus, length of keel, following the curve, 

 No. 1, 2f in. ; No. 2, 2f in. ; No. 3, 2^- in. ; No. 4 (the sternum 

 of this young specimen is not yet fully ossified) ; No. 5, 2f in. ; 

 No. 6, 2^ in. Length in a straight line about one-eighth of an inch 

 less than the above measurements. L. mutus, keel following the 

 curve, No. 1 (female), 211 in.; No. 2 (female), 3 in; in a straight 

 line, No. 1, 2tb in. ; No. 2, 2f in. L. mbalpina, male, keel following 

 the curve, 3 J in. ; in a straight line, 3^ in. Malmgren (quoted by 

 Dresser) says their food consists of Saxifragce, Salix polaris, 

 flowers, flower-buds, and leaves of Dryas octopetala, and " in its 

 crop I found nothing but fresh remains of Dryas." I brought 

 home a chaotic mass from the crops and stomachs of Spitzbergen 



