THE WILLOW PTARMIGAN. 73 



the birds by the leg, and throwing back her head opened her mouth and indi- 

 cated the purpose plainer than words could tell. After the middle of August 

 the bii'ds have acquired a good size, and are then feeding- on berries of various 

 kinds. They then are quite tender, of nearly white flesh, and when properly 

 prepared form a pleasant food for the table. The young birds of the year 

 attain their full growth by the 1st of November." 



Mr. R. MacFarlane, chief factor of the Hudson Bay Company, who is 

 exceedingly well qualified to speak about the Willow Ptarmigan, says: "This 

 species is exceedingly abundant in the neighborhood of Fort Anderson, on the 

 Lower Anderson River, and in the wooded country to the eastward. It is not, 

 however, common in the Barren Grounds, especially from Horton River to 

 Franklin Bay, where it is replaced by L. riipestris. The nest is invariably on 

 the ground, and consists of a few withered leaves placed in a shallow cavity or 

 depression. The female sometimes leaves it only when almost trodden under 

 foot, in fact several were swooped upon and caught thereon by hand. They 

 usually begin to lay about the end of May or the beginning of June. The 

 process of moulting, or the gradual assumption of their summer plumage, com- 

 mences a week or two earlier. The female lays from seven to ten, twelve, and 

 occasionally as many as thirteen, eggs, which I find was the greatest number 

 recorded, and we had reason to know that some, at least, of the nests were 

 used by Ptarmigan several seasons in succession. When very closely ap- 

 proached as stated, the female would frequently flutter ofi", sometimes spreading 

 her wings and ruffling her feathers, as if to attack or frighten away intruders, 

 and at other times calling out in distressed tones, and acting as if she had 

 been severely wounded. 



"In one instance where an Indian collector had found a nest which con- 

 tained seven eggs, he placed a snare thereon ; but on returning to the spot a 

 few hours afterwards he was surprised to find that six of the eggs had disap- 

 peared in the interim, and as no eggshells were left behind (the male escaped) 

 they were in all probability removed by the parents to a safer position. The 

 male bird is generally not far away from the nest, and his peculiarly hoarse 

 and prolonged note is frequently heard, the more especially between the hours 

 of 10 p. m. and 2 a. m. Both, however, displayed great courage and devotion 

 in protecting from capture their young, which we often encountered on our 

 return coast trips. 



"About the end of September, during October, and early in November 

 L. lagopus assembles in great flocks, but during the winter it was seldom that 

 more than two or three dozen were ever noticed in single companies. They 

 are, however, most winters very numerous in the neighborhood of Fort Good 

 Hope and other Hudson Bay Company posts in the Mackenzie River district; 

 but as the spring sets in they begin to migrate northward. It is very doubt- 

 ful if many breed to the south of latitude 68°, at least in the valley of the 

 Anderson."^ 



■ From K. MaoFarlane's Manuscript on Land and Water Birds Nesting iu British Nortix America. 



