130 WILLOW PTARMIGAN. 



Male and female in winter dress. — Beak black; eye spot smaller 

 and paler; the fourteen tail feathers black, with white edges on the 

 ends, very broad on the middle ones. The shafts of the five or six 

 first wing feathers brown. For the rest the whole of the plumage 

 is snow white; tarsi and toes thickly covered with bushy feathers, 

 like hair, which, similar to the foot of a hare, lie even on the sole of 

 the foot. 



The transition from summer to winter dress takes place at difi"erent 

 times in different places and seasons, but generally in September and 

 October. In the middle of the last-named month we see some white 

 E.ipa, and some speckled, on account of some of the summer feathers 

 remaining. In the end of April or May the spring moult takes place, 

 and even in the beginning of June we find occasionally winter feathers 

 remaining. "During the period of transition we see speckled birds 

 with more or less white feathers among the speckled ones. 



The spring moult comes on in this way: — The coloured feathers first 

 appear on the head and neck, next on the back, last on the breast; 

 and this tallies exactly with Hearne's observations in North America." 



My figure of this bird is that of a female shot by Mr. Wheelwright 

 from the nest in June, 1860. It is therefore in the real breeding 

 plumage. The egg figured was taken out of her nest at the same 

 time. 



The bird has also been figured by Buffbn, pi. enl. 129, (female 

 in breeding plumage, f. 2 head of female taking on the breeding dress;) 

 Bouteille, Ornith. du Dauph,, pi. 42, f. 1; Naumann, Vogel. Deutsch., 

 pi. 159; Temminck, Pig. et Gall., vol. iii., pi. 11, figs. 1, 2, o; Frisch, 

 pi. 110 et ill, (in winter plumage, and commencement of moult;) 

 Gould, B. of E., pi. 256; Dresser, B. of E., in winter dress. 



