ROCK PTARMIGAN IgI 
after only a few hours’ captivity they die. I never 
could keep them alive above twelve hours. The change- 
able weather, sudden squalls of snow or rain, must 
be the death of scores of these delicate creatures. 
Their note is a soft piping pe-pe-pe, uttered several 
times, and has the same sound as that of the young 
of the bobwhite (Colinus virginianus).” 
For the first few weeks of their life the young of 
this species cannot be distinguished from those of the 
willow ptarmigan, but when a month old they may 
be readily told apart by the bill. 
The food of this species consists of insects, berries, 
leaves and buds of the birch and willow. Mr. Kumlien, 
at Cumberland Sound, shot one whose crop was full 
of moss. 
Welch’s ptarmigan, described by Mr. Brewster from 
Newfoundland, is reported as a highland form of the 
rock ptarmigan, and confined to the sides and sum- 
mits of rock hills and mountains in the interior of 
Newfoundland. The rock ptarmigan is a very local 
bird, and for the most part spends its life on or near 
the hills where it was reared. It has been spoken of 
as a truly alpine species, rarely found below the line 
of stunted black spruces, except in the depth of winter, 
when they descend to the lowlands and sometimes min- 
gle with the willow grouse. The settlers call it moun- 
tain partridge to distinguish it from the willow grouse, 
known as partridge. 
Nelson’s ptarmigan is another form of the rock 
grouse, which is confined to the islands of Unalaska, 
