BIRDS OF NORTHERN CANADA 347 



neighbouring vegetation. At the same time the female sat 

 so very closely that more than one was caught on the nest, 

 and I recollect an instance where the parent, on the very 

 near approach of our party, must have crouched as much 

 as possible in the hope that she might not be noticed, which 

 would have happened had not one of the smartest of our 

 Indian assistants caught a glance of her eye. Although 

 many male ' Rockers ' were observed on our summer trips, 

 feeding and otherwise disporting themselves in the ' Bar- 

 rens,' yet comparatively few nests were obtained, and except 

 in 1862 not one well-identified example was discovered by 

 us west of Horton River, but during the winter scores of 

 L. rupestris were met with in the forest country east of 

 Fort Anderson." Like L. lagopus, it raises but one brood 

 annually. 



Major Bendire writes that " We are indebted to Mr. R. 

 MacFarlane for nearly all we know about the breeding 

 habits, nests and eggs of this interesting species." . . 

 The Appendix description of the Anderson Barren Grounds 

 will give the reader a good idea of the summer home of 

 the rock ptarmigan, and while its food differs probably but, 

 slightly from that of the willow ptarmigan, it must neces- 

 sarily be restricted to a much smaller variety. . . " The 

 TJ. S. National Museum is almost entirely indebted to the 

 indefatigable Mr. R. MacFarlane for the handsome series 

 of eggs of this species in the collection, all of which (in 

 1895), with the exception of a single set, were obtained by 

 him." 



" Nidification begins about the middle of May in Alaska, 

 and correspondingly later in the Barren Grounds, usually 

 from June 15 to July 10. The eggs are ovate or short ovate 

 in form, resembling the eggs of Lagopus lagopus consider- 

 ably, both in colour and markings, but they average smaller. 

 The majority are readily distinguished from those of the 

 latter, the markings, as a rule, being smaller and better de- 

 fined, and seldom running into indistinct and irregular 



