344 THEOUQH THE MACKENZIE BASIN 



heading he has somehow not mentioned the Anderson collec- 

 tion of the eggs of Lagopus, although it was without doubt 

 the largest ever made by, and under the auspices of, any 

 individual collector in North America. It may prove of 

 interest to reproduce here the notes made thereanent in the 

 aforesaid paper: " This species is exceedingly abundant in 

 the neighbourhood of Fort Anderson, on the lower Anderson 

 Eiver, and in the sparsely wooded country to the eastward. 

 It is not, however, common in the Barren Grounds, especially 

 from the Wilmot Ilorton River to Eranklin Bay, where it 

 is replaced by Lagopus rupestris. The nest is invariably 

 on the ground, and consists of a few withered leaves placed 

 in a shallow cavity or depression. The female sometimes 

 only leaves it when almost trodden under foot. In fact, 

 several were swooped upon and caught thereon by hand. 

 They usually begin to lay about the end of May or beginning 

 of June. The process of moulting, or the assumption of 

 their summer plumage, commences a week or two earlier. 

 The female lays from seven to ten, twelve, and ocasionally 

 as many as thirteen eggs, which I find was the greatest num- 

 ber recorded, and we had reason to know that some at least 

 of the nests were used by ptarmigan for several seasons in 

 succession. When very closely approached, as stated, the 

 female would frequently flutter off, sometimes spreading her 

 wings and ruffling her feathers as if to attack or frighten 

 away intruders, and at others calling out in distressed tones 

 and acting as if she had been severely wounded. In one 

 instance, where an Indian collector h^d found a nest which 

 then contained seven eggs, he placed a snare thereon ; but on 

 returning to the spot a few hours afterwards, he was sur- 

 prised to find that six of the eggs had disappeared in the 

 interim, and as no egg-shells (the male flew away) were left 

 behind, they were in all probability removed by the parents 

 to a safer position. The male bird is generally not far away 

 from the nest, and his peculiarly hoarse and prolonged note 

 is very often heard, the more especially between the hours 



