ated, and evidently was about to perish from exhaustion. Such trag- 

 edies are common in bird-life. 



Although so far north, Alaska has within its borders several 

 species of grouse. The sharp-tailed grouse ranges westward from 

 the Yukon Territory, in Canada, to the vicinity of Fairbanks on the 

 Tanana River. The gray ruffed grouse and the spruce partridge oc- 

 cupy the forested parts of the interior, and the Oregon ruffed grouse 

 and Franklin's grouse inhabit the forests of the southern parts of 

 the Territory. In addition to these handsome birds Alaska is the 

 home of several species of ptarmigan, living on the bare mountains, 

 or on open tundras, wherever arctic conditions prevail. 



All of the ptarmigan of Alaska have a mottled buff-and-brown 

 summer plumage, changing at the approach of winter to an almost 

 entirely snowy white one, which is worn until the ground begins to 

 become free of snow in spring. Of these grouse the white-tailed 

 ptarmigan, which lives above timberline on the bare mountain-tops 

 south of the Yukon, is least numerous and not often seen. It may be 

 distinguished from the others by its pure white tail, the others having 

 black tails hidden under the long overlying white feathers of the 

 rump. The rock ptarmigan is a little larger, and is more generally 

 distributed than the white-tailed species. The only remaining species, 

 the willow grouse, or willow ptarmigan, is generally distributed over 

 all the tundras and open barrens of the Alaskan mainland. It is the 

 largest and by far the most abundant of all the ptarmigan, and soon 

 becomes a familiar bird to everyone who travels across country in 

 that region. 



In winter these birds gather in enormous flocks, numbering 

 hundreds, along willow-grown bottoms south of the Yukon River. 

 When one comes on such a congregation, and the pure white birds 

 suddenly take wing, it looks like an explosion of the snowy surface 

 of the ground. Small coveys, probably families of the previous sum- 

 mer, occur here and there wherever food is to be found. Being ground- 

 roosting birds, they are in constant danger of being stalked at night 

 by foxes, and sometimes by lynxes. In order to avoid making a trail 

 likely to lead an enemy to them, these small coveys, when going to 

 roost, often fly to the middle of a patch of scrubby alders, or other 

 small bushes, and drop into the snow in their midst. Here they re- 

 main imbedded to the level of their backs in the snow until morning, 

 when they take flight by springing straight up, leaving clean-cut 

 moulds of their forms, and fan-shaped marks on each side in the snow 

 showing where the tips of their wings cut the surface at the first 



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