134 NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



off a short distance, worked a lump of snow to about the size of one of these birds. Fixing a 

 bunch of dark-brown moss on one end of the snow to represent the bird's head, he set his decoy 

 upon a bare mossy knoll. Then retiring a short distance behind a knoll he began imitating the 

 call of the male, until a bird came whirring along and taking up the gauntlet lit close by its sup. 

 posed rival and fell a victim to the ruse. The note used by the native in this instance was a 

 peculiar nasal yak-yak-yakyak. This was made by placing his hands over his mouth and closing 

 the nose with thumb and finger. At this time the males were continually pursuing each other 

 or holding possession of prominent knolls, frequently rising thence 5 to 10 yards in the air, with 

 quick wing-strokes, and descending with stiffened wings with the tips curved downward. While 

 ascending they uttered a series of notes which may be represented by the syllables ku-ku-ku-ku, 

 which is changed as the bird descends to a hard rolling krr-r-r-r, in a very deep guttural tone, end- 

 ing as the bird reaches the ground. Frequently a pair would fly at each other full tilt, and a few 

 feathers would be knocked out, the weaker bird quickly taking flight again, while the victor 

 rises, as just described, and utters his loud note of defiance and victory. On other occasions, 

 when the birds are more evenly matched, they fight fiercely, until the ground is strewn with 

 feathers. On June 1, at the mouth of the Yukon, in spite of a cold raw gale and rain, which 

 sent all other birds to the sheltering thickets in the vicinity, the shrill call of the male Ptarmigan 

 was heard on every hand. The change this morning was the more striking as, on the preceding 

 evening, when the weather was calm and pleasant and evidently foretold a storm, all the other 

 birds of the marshes were extremely noisy, especially the geese and gulls, which raised such a din 

 on every hand that it was difficult to carry on conversation. In the morning not a sound was 

 heard, excepting an occasional luk-luk of a goose, as it passed on its way to some feeding ground 

 or sheltered spot in the distance, and the cries of the Ptarmigan, which seemed but little affected 

 by the depressing character of the weather. 



On May '24 almost all of these birds were paired, but some did not complete their nuptials 

 until the first few days of June. This grouse take but a single mate in Northern Alaska, and I 

 am informed by the natives of TJnalaska that the same is the case with the Eock Grouse found on 

 the Aleutian Islands, nor have I ever known of the Ptarmigan assembling in numbers about 

 any special meeting place to carry on their love affairs; they scatter about, as previously men- 

 tioned, being seen singly here and there on prominent knolls over the flat country. Early in June, 

 rarely so early as the last of May, the first eggs are laid ; by June 20 and 25 the downy young 

 are usually out, and when approached the female crouches close to the ground among her brood. 

 When she sees it is impossible to escape notice she rolls and tumbles away as though mortally 

 injured and thus tries to lead one from her chicks. The young at the same time try to escape by 

 running away in different directions through the grass. At this season the female and male both 

 moult and assume a plumage which differs considerably. 



The young are fledged and on the wing at varying dates through July, and are nearly full 

 grown by the 1st to the 10th of August. On November 25, 1877, they were numerous, in large 

 and small flocks, along the bushy gullies and hill-slopes on the shore of Norton Sound, but were 

 shy. In many places where they had stopped the night before, their sleeping-place was well 

 marked. In each instance they had occupied a small- clear spot in the midst of a dense thicket, 

 and in no case had the birds approached on foot, but had flown in over the top and plumped down 

 into the soft snow, where they had remained during the night, each bird thus making a mold 

 of itself in the snow. In some instances there were fifteen to twenty of these molds in the 

 snow in an area of a few feet. In leaving their stopping-place the birds arose and flew directly 

 from their " forms," as was shown by the marks of the wings on each side as they touched the 

 snow in rising, so there were no tell-tale tracks to or from these places; the open places were 

 undoubtedly chosen to allow the birds an unobstructed escape in case they were surprised by 

 prowling foxes, which hunt these thickets for food. 



Occasionally Ptarmigan were seen about the houses at Saint Michaels. Upon one occasion one 

 sat for several minutes on the roof of a warehouse gazing curiously into the yard where a number 

 of men and dogs were passing back and forth, evidently affording a novel and interesting sight for 

 the bird, which, however, soon took flight, as though remembering the risk he might be running in 

 such proximity to his usual foes. 



