120 UPLAND GAME BIRDS 



elephant. Its large size, and its extremely long and pointed 

 tail proclaim its identity anywhere. According to Mrs. 

 Bailey, it ranges "from Assiniboia and British Columbia to 

 Utah, Nevada and California, from the Sierra Nevadas and 

 Cascades east to the Black Hills, Nebraska and Colorado." 

 I heartily wish that every one who reads these notes may 

 some day have the pleasure of seeing at close range this 

 glorious bird in its ideal home — on a sage-brush flat in the 

 land of buttes, where the world is big and free, and full of 

 sunshine. 



But I am sure this wish will fall far short of realization. 

 By the sportsmen, gunners and pot-hunters of the far West, 

 this fine bird has been shot and shot, until now it exists only 

 in shreds and patches. Every locality still containing birds 

 is surrounded, and no one who shoots seems to care about 

 saving that truly grand bird. In a very short time the peo- 

 ple of the West will awake and find that the great Sage Grouse 

 is totally extinct. 



The Ptarmigans (pronounced tar'mi-gans) form a sharply 

 distinguished group of the Grouse Family, with which, in 

 view of the different species we possess in Alaska, and also 

 nearer home, every American should become acquainted. 

 The most striking and peculiar character about these birds 

 is that at the approach of winter they turn snow white. 

 They prefer to nest on the tops of rugged mountains, above 

 timber-line, and in Alaska are at home either on the lofty 

 snow-fields of the mountains or the desolate barrens. 



There are four well-defined species, and six varieties. 

 The only species which is at home in the United States is the 



