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In Turner Sund I saw — at some distance — a flock of 

 geese, which certainly were Anser leucopsis. On July 3P* I 

 saw moulting old geese, and goslings which were still far from 

 being able to fly (Jamson Land). On August 10*^ Mr. Hartz 

 saw a very large flock of moulting geese in Hurry Inlet. 



Lagopus mutus (Mont.). 



In Sabine I saw a brood of Ptarmigan chickens on the 

 10* of July. They were of the size of a newly hatched chicken 

 of a domestic hen. Only the female bird accompanied the brood. 

 The male was not to be seen anywhere near, while another 

 brood, observed the same day was accompanied by both the 

 old birds. Both cases, I think, are seen equally often. The 

 frequent absence of the male might perhaps be due to the fact 

 that his plumage — while the hen is sitting — is still partially 

 white, and he consequently, no snow being on the ground at 

 that time, more liable to be the prey of falcons. 



On the З""*^, A^^ and 5*^' of August I saw several broods in 

 Jameson Land. The smallest chickens were quite as big as a 

 quail, while the largest ones scarcely were distinguishable from 

 the old birds. Besides these cases I saw Ptarmigans or their 

 excrements wherever I came ashore in Greenland. 



As I had a pointer with me, I had the opportunity a couple 

 of times to see how the Greenland Ptarmigan behaves before 

 a dog. The hen with little chickens would at first crouch be- 

 fore the dog and then fly almost right at his head; then, with 

 hanging wings, partly running partly flying, she would try to 

 draw the attention of the dog upon herself to get him away 

 from the place, where the chickens were hiding. 



The chickens of broods consisting of almost grown-up 

 birds would either run before the dog or stand upright on the 

 bare ground gazing at the pointing dog. — A single brood 

 crouched well among knolls. 1 have also seen a couple of 



5X1X. 10 



