166 BIRDS 



mottled with gray. Both types of coloration serve to pro- 

 tect the birds from their natural enemies. They range in 

 comparatively open places, and in winter their immaculate 

 feathers enable the birds to move about over the snow with- 

 out attracting the attention of their natural enemies, eagles, 

 owls, foxes, and other carnivorous creatures. Their summer 

 homes on the mountain ranges are often above the timber 

 line, where nothing but a sparse growth of moss exists. The 

 birds at this season of the 5^ear are very difficult to find, 

 owing to the similarity of their plumage to the surrounding 

 rocks and vegetation. 



Ptarmigan are seldom hunted with dog or gun, and con- 

 sequently are approachable, often exhibiting no more fear 

 of a man than does the ordinary barnyard fowl. The white- 

 tailed ptarmigan inhabits the Rocky Mountain and Sierra 

 Nevada ranges from Colorado northward to Alberta and 

 British Columbia. 



Naturalists have not found it possible to make many 

 extensive observations of this interesting bird during the 

 breeding season, in June, because it nests in a region sub- 

 ject to violent weather changes during the early simimer, 

 maldng a camping outfit imperative to provide against 

 violent storms. 



PRAIRIE CHICKEN 



The Prairie Chicken, or Prairie Hen, was formerly one 

 of the most common birds on the plains and prairies of the 

 middle and western United States and Canada. In Minne- 

 sota and INIanitoba this famous bird is found in the same 

 districts as its lighter-plumaged relative, the sharp-tailed 



