186 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
their plumage in April, brown feathers then making their 
appearance on the neck and the edges of the wings. The 
Aleutian Indians capture them by hundreds at certain 
seasons, by using snares made of twisted sinews of 
deer. These are made into running loops and fastened 
to poles, each pole being balanced between two branches 
of a tree, and caught over another pole placed horizon- 
tally, by means of a small pin which is tied to the snare. 
Rushes are then piled on each side of the tracks in which 
the birds run, in order to induce them to pass through 
the spot in which the snare is set. Should they touch 
the snare, the pin is loosened, the heavy end of the pole 
falls, and they are swung into the air, where they hang 
until the Indians take them away. The number of 
grouse destroyed in a year by the red men cannot even 
be estimated, but, judging from the constant warfare 
waged against them, it must be very large. The 
birds of Alaska are not so finely flavored as the more 
eastern species, owing to the exclusive character of 
their food, which is mainly composed of willow buds. 
They are fond of frequenting sandy spots during the 
day, if the wind is not too high and biting, and at 
night they seek refuge in the thickets, or under the snow, 
into which they work their way for a distance of three or 
four yards,.in order to secure shelter and avoid the at- 
tacks of foes. This species is partially migratory in por- 
tions of the extreme northern countries, but in New- 
foundland and sections of Canada it is not so to any 
appreciable extent; hence, it is within easy distance 
of some of the smaller villages, and is quite abundant 
in districts remote from settlements. 
The rock, or mountain ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris) 
is much more boreal in habitat than the preceding, its 
favorite haunts being the region north of the fifty-first 
parallel. It is a regular denizen of Alaska and the 
north-western division of British America, and descends 
