134 - GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



killed with a stick, and at others so wild that they will not allow 

 you to approach within gun shot, and such is generally the case in 

 winter, when the snow is hard and crusty, and the noise made in 

 approaching them alarms them. They are shot at all times by the 

 population in the more distant districts, but a close time is now 

 fixed' by law, which will have a good effect where the law can be 

 enforced. 



Lagopus rupestris. — Leach. Rock Ptarmigan. Mountain Ptanuigan. 



This species is still more boreal in its habitat than the preceding 

 and but little is known concerning it. In size it is somewhat less 

 than the Willow Grouse and its bill is more slender. The tail is 

 Dlack. The male has at all seasons a black stripe running through 

 the eye. The summer plumage is irregular banded with black, 

 yellow and white. This species is never found within the limits of 

 the United States. In winter however it is found in Labrador 

 along the coast on the hills from which the wind has swept the 

 snow ; here it feeds on mosses and lichens, and on the few twigs 

 and buds that are to be found. In Newfoundland it is quite rare 

 and is seldom found below the line of stunted black spruce except 

 in the depths of winter, when they descend to the low lands and 

 feed on the buds of dwarf trees, sometimes in company with the 

 Willow Grouse. The settlers here call this the " mountain par- 

 tridge." 



This species is said to occur in Melville Peninsula and in the 

 Barren Grounds, rarely going even in winter south of latitude 63° 

 in the interior though passing much farther to the southward along 

 the shores of Hudson's Bay. It is said to breed in the open 

 country, differing in this respect from the Willow Grouse, which 

 nests in the wooded land. 



Lagopus ieucurus. — Swalnson. White-tailed Ptarmigan. White Quail. 



The White-tailed Ptarmigan may be distinguished from all 

 others of the genus by having the tail white at all seasons. It is 

 the smallest of our Ptarmigan, and it is the only one of regular 

 occurrence within the territory of the United States. In winter 

 this species is pure white throughout, but the summer plumage is 

 curiously mottled with dark brown and tawny and white ; the eye 



