LAGOPUS LEUCUEUS, WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 429 



such places for their nest in the rocks of the mountains as the iTria 

 <7r2/He ( Black Guillemot) would on the rocky islands of the Atlantic 

 Ocean. I do not think the Lagopiis leucurus ever has more than three 

 or four young at a brood, as I have seen pairs of old birds with thL-ir 

 young on several occasions, and at such times have never observed 

 more than four chicks in a family. It is barely possible that their num- 

 bers may have been lessened by being devoured by Hawks or by the 

 cold rains, which may have chilled and killed them. It is a well-known 

 fact to most naturalists that large numbers of the young EuSed Grouse 

 often j)erish from exposure during late springs accompanied by cold 

 rains. I have several times found them dead and in a dying state, 

 caused by exposure in the woods near Springfield, Massachusetts. I do 

 not think that is the case with the young Ptarmigans, however, as they 

 are hatched late in the season, and last spring was a favorable one for 

 their propagation. ISTeither do I think they are destroyed by Hawks, 

 as there are none where the Ptarmigans breed, with the exception of a 

 few straggling Sparrow Hawks, which are rarely seen. Therefore I 

 think the Lagopus leucurus has but three or four eggs at a sitting, and 

 but one brood in a season. They have a continued moult which lasts 

 during the summer months, and the variation in their plumage is so great 

 that it is almost impossible to find two individuals in the same plumage. 

 During the months from April to September their plumage is very scant 

 and ragged ; but when in their full winter plumage their feathers are 

 heavy and compact, which gives them a much larger appearance than 

 when seen in the summer dress, mottled with brown and grayish-white. 

 Tbe tail at all times is pure white. They are generally known in Colo- 

 rado as White and Mountain Quails by the hunters, miners, and ranch- 

 men. When with their young they will fight the ornithological robber, 

 flying so near as to hit one with their wings, in their endeavor to pro- 

 tect their chickens. Both male and female are equally courageous, and 

 will defend their young. In the summer they are very tame, and when 

 approached will run among the rocks or in the dwarf willows, a few 

 yards from the hunter, and squat, and will not continue their retreat 

 until the hunter is upon them. When raised they fly in a straight line 

 for seventy-five or a hundred yards, and alight on some elevated rock, 

 stretching out the neck its full length to see if they are followed, and if 

 nothing is seen to excite their suspicion they walk otf from the rocks 

 and commence to feed as usual. During deep snows in the winter the 

 Ptarmigan descend from the mountains and feed in the edges of the 

 timber and on the hill-sides. Last winter some were seen as far east as 

 South Park, Colorado, feeding on the foot-hills. Thej^ are gregarious in 

 winter. The White-tailed Ptarmigan is 26.25 inches in extent, and 14.50 

 inches long ; eye, hazel ; superciliary membrane, red ; toes, feathered 

 half their length in summer, and entirely covered with hair-like feathers 

 in the winter ; claws, blackish, lighter at their tips, long, broad and strong, 

 rounded above, concave beneath, arched, edges sharp; and in some in- 

 dividuals the claws are notched on the sides." 



Note. — The only North American Teiruomvce not treated of in the foregoing pages 

 are two species of Ptarmigan, the synonymy of 'which is given in the accompanying 

 foot-note, to complete a view of the snbfamily.* 



"1. Lagopus albus, (Gmelin), Audubon. 



Tetrao albus, Gm., Syst. Nat. i, 1788, 750.— Lath., Ind. Om. ii, 1790, 639 {Lagopedede la 

 Bale d'Hudson, Bujtf., ii. 276 ; Wliite Partridge, Edvi:, 72 ; JT'7(We G4'o«s, Pexn., 

 Arct. Zool. ii, No. 183 ; Lath., Gen. Syn. iv, 743). 



Lagopus albus, Add., Syn. 1839, 207 ; B. Am. v, 1842, 114.— Bp., List, 1838, 44.— Nutt., 

 Man. i, 2d ed. 1840, 816.— Coues, Pr. A. N. S. 1861, 227 (Labrador).- Verb., Pr. 



