THE WHITE -TAILED PTARMIGAN. 



{Lagopus leucurus.) 



The White-tailed Ptarmigan is an in- 

 habitant of the alpine summits of the 

 mountain ranges of western North 

 America. Its breeding range is coinci- 

 dent with its geographical distribution 

 and extends from Alaska to New Mex- 

 ico, but is limited to the higher moun- 

 tains and is always above timber line. 

 This bird rarely leaves these great heights 

 except in the most severe weather of win- 

 ter, when it rarely descends below an al- 

 titude of eight thousand feet, though it 

 has been taken at a height of only two 

 thousand feet. 



It is a beautiful bird and an excellent 

 illustration of protective coloration, the 

 darker color of the summer plumage well 

 harmonizing with its somber surround- 

 ings, while the white of its winter dress 

 matches the snow of the mountain 

 sides. When sitting on its nest "so 

 nearly does the bird resemble the gray 

 boulders which surround her on every 

 side, that the discovery of the nest is 

 largely due to accident." At such a 

 time, the bird is flushed with difficulty. 

 One observer writes : "Twice have I 

 escaped stepping upon a sitting" Ptarmi- 

 gan by only an inch or so, and once I 

 reined in my horse at a time when an- 

 other step would have crushed out the 

 life of a brood of nine chicks, but an 

 hour or so from the egg. In this case 

 the parent crouched at the horse's feet 

 and, though in momentary danger of be- 

 ing stepped on, made no attempt to es- 

 cape until I had dismounted and put out 

 my hand to catch her. She then 

 fluttered to the top of a rock a few feet 

 distant, and watched me as I handled the 

 young, constantly uttering low anxious 

 protests." It is said that sitting Ptar- 

 migans have been lifted from their nests 

 and the eggs handled, the bird simply 

 uttering an occasional sound not unlike 

 that of a sitting hen. In the autumn the 

 Ptarmigan is a much shyer bird and when 



closely approached will "run about, hold- 

 ing the tail elevated and looking very 

 much like a white fan-tail pigeon. 



Major Bendire in his "Life Histories 

 of North American Birds," gives the 

 notes of Mr. Dennis Gale, who studied 

 the habits of two broods of White-tailed 

 Ptarmigans ; one containing seven and 

 the other five chicks. He believed that 

 the males took no part in the parental 

 cares, but the mother birds were very de- 

 voted. He says : "There was a dispo- 

 sition, clearly proven with the chicks of 

 both broods, to hide when the hen sig-, 

 naled danger ; but some of the older ones 

 flushed and flew at least fifty yards. The 

 females were very tame and would not 

 flush ; in fact, they could not be induced 

 by mild treatment to leave the place 

 where the young had hidden. They 

 walked around me so close that I could 

 have touched them with my hand, and 

 showed a marked concern for their 

 broods, clucking in a manner very similar 

 to our domestic hen." 



No description will more graphically 

 portray the characteristics of the White- 

 tailed Ptarmigan than that prepared bv 

 Mr. T. M. Trippe for Dr. Coues' "Birds 

 of the North-West." Mr. Trippe studied 

 this bird in the mountainous regions of 

 Colorado and writes as follows: "The 

 White-tailed Ptarmigan is a very abun- 

 dant bird on the main range, living en- 

 tirely above timber line the year around, 

 except during the severest part of win- 

 ter, when it descends into the timber for 

 shelter and food, occasionally straggling 

 as low as ten thousand feet. It begins 

 to change color about the middle of 

 March, when a few specks of blackish- 

 brown begin to appear in the plumage of 

 the oldest males ; but the change is very 

 slow and it is late in April before there 

 is much black visible, and the close of 

 May, or early in June, before the sum- 

 mer plumage' is perfect. The Ptarmigan 



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