

THE WILLOW PTARMIGAN. 75 



by L. M. Turner, U. S. Signal Service; and No. 21364 (PI. 2, Fig. 10), from 

 a set of ten, taken June 11, 1880, at St. Michael, Alaska, by E. W. Nelson, 

 U. S. Signal Service. 



25. Lagopus lagopus alleni Stejneger. 



allen's ptarmigan. 



Lagopus alba alleni Stejneger, Auk, 1, 1884, 369. 



Lagopus lagopus alleni Stejneger, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, vm, 1885, 20. 



(B — , C — , R — , C — , U 301a.) 



Geographical range : Newfoundland. 



According to Dr. L. Stejneger this newly described subspecies is similar 

 to Lagopus lagopus, but distinguishable by having the shafts of both primaries 

 and secondaries black, the wing feathers and even some of the coverts 

 marked and mottled with the same color. 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam refers to this bird in the Ornithologist and Oolo- 

 gist (Vol. vm, No. 6, 1883, p. 43) as the Common or Willow Ptarmigan, 

 and says: "It is still an abundant resident in Newfoundland, even in the 

 vicinity of St. Johns, and thousands of them are killed annually on the 

 peninsula of Avalon alone. It frequents rocky barrens, feeding on seeds and 

 berries of the stunted plants that thrive in these exposed situations." 



In his notes on the "Zoology of Newfoundland," Henry Reeks, esq., F. 

 L. S., makes the following statement, which unquestionably applies to this race : 

 "The Willow Grouse is called 'Partridge' by the settlers, and it frequents beds 

 of alder and dwarf birch in swampy places, especially on the borders of lakes 

 and rivers. It breeds on the ground among stunted black spruce, in rather 

 drier situations." 1 



The breeding range of this well-marked race of the Willow Ptarmigan 

 seems, as far as at present known, to be confined to the island of Newfound- 

 land, where it is a resident. I have been unable to find any description of 

 the eggs, which undoubtedly are indistinguishable from those of Lagopus 

 lagopus. 



26. Lagopus rupestris (Gmelin). 



rock ptarmigan. 



Tetrao rupestris Gmelin, Systema Naturae, 1, ii, 1788, 751. 

 Lagopus rupestris Leach, Zoological Miscellany, 11, 1817, 290. 



(B 468, C 387, R 475, C 569, U 302.) 



Geographical range: Arctic America in general, southeastward to the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence (Anticosti), except the northern extremity of the peninsula of Labrador, 

 and region thence northward, Greenland and the Aleutian Islands. 



The breeding range of the Rock Ptarmigan extends through Arctic North 

 America, from the Alaska Peninsula and Bering Strait, along the Arctic coast, 



1 Zoologist, second series, 1869, Vol. iv, p. 1747. 



