﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  

  

  375 
  

  

  Willow 
  ptarmigan. 
  Lagopus 
  lagopus 
  (Linnaeus). 
  Specimen 
  in 
  winter 
  plumage. 
  American 
  Museum 
  of 
  Natural 
  History. 
  

  

  I 
  nat. 
  size 
  

  

  Lagopus 
  lagopus 
  (Linnaeus) 
  

  

  Willow 
  Ptarmigan 
  

  

  Tetrao 
  lagopus 
  Linnaeus. 
  Syst. 
  Nat. 
  Ed. 
  lo. 
  1758. 
  1:159 
  

   Lagopus 
  lagopus 
  A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  301 
  

  

  lago'pus, 
  Gr. 
  XayojTroi;?, 
  Lat., 
  lagopus, 
  barefoot 
  

  

  Description. 
  Feet 
  completely 
  feathered. 
  , 
  Winter: 
  Pure 
  white 
  with 
  

   black 
  tail. 
  Summer, 
  male: 
  Head, 
  neck 
  and 
  upper 
  parts 
  rich 
  chestnut 
  

   or 
  rufous, 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  barred 
  with 
  blackish 
  ; 
  wings 
  and 
  under 
  parts 
  largely 
  

   white. 
  Spring 
  and 
  jail: 
  Showing 
  various 
  stages 
  of 
  pied 
  plumage. 
  Female: 
  

   Lighter 
  colored 
  than 
  summer 
  male, 
  more 
  heavily 
  barred, 
  only 
  the 
  wings 
  white. 
  

  

  Length 
  15-17 
  inches; 
  wing 
  7.5-8; 
  tail 
  5.5. 
  

  

  The 
  Common 
  or 
  Willow 
  ptarmigan 
  is 
  circumpolar 
  in 
  distribution, 
  

   breeding 
  in 
  the 
  arctic 
  regions 
  and 
  wandering 
  irregularly 
  south 
  in 
  winter, 
  

   in 
  eastern 
  America 
  rarely 
  to 
  Maine, 
  Massachusetts, 
  New 
  York, 
  and 
  Illinois. 
  

   The 
  only 
  New 
  York 
  specimen 
  known 
  was 
  obtained 
  May 
  22, 
  1876, 
  by 
  Romeyn 
  

   B. 
  Hough 
  at 
  Watson 
  in 
  Lewis 
  county, 
  [see 
  Coues, 
  N. 
  O. 
  C. 
  Bui. 
  3:41], 
  

  

  