76 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



southeast through the Barren Grounds, to the west coast of Hudson Bay, the 

 Northeast Territory, and southern Labrador, and possibly Antioosti Island, in 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



Mr. E. W. Nelson states that "this beautiful Ptarmigan is a common resi- 

 dent of the Alaskan mainland, and unlike the common White Ptarmigan it 

 frequents the summits of the low hills and mountains during the summer sea- 

 son, where it remains until the severe weather of early winter forces it down 

 to the lower elevations and under the shelter of the bush-bordered ravines 

 and furrows marking the slopes." 1 



There is evidently but little difference in the general habits of this species 

 and those of the common Willow Ptarmigan, except that it frequents higher 

 altitudes during the breeding season. 



We are indebted to Mr. R. MacFarlane for nearly all we know about the 

 breeding habits, nests, and eggs of this interesting species. He says: "This 

 Ptarmigan is not near so plentiful as L. lagopus, and we only met with it in any 

 considerable numbers from Horton River, Barren Grounds, to the shores of 

 Franklin Bay. Very few nests were* found to the eastward of that river, or on 

 the coast or ' barrens ' of the Lower Anderson. Its nest is similar but it lays 

 fewer eggs than L. lagopus, as nine proved to be the rarely attained maximum 

 among an aggregate record of sixty -five nests. The usual number was six or 

 seven, and there were some which held only four and five eggs. It was no easy 

 matter, however, to find the nests of this species, as the plumage of the birds 

 and the color of the eggs both strongly resembled the neighboring 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 female bird, 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 collectors caught a glance of her eye. Although lots of 

 male ' Rockers ' were observed on our summer trips, feeding and otherwise 

 disporting themselves in the 'barrens,' yet comparatively few nests were 

 obtained, and, except in 1 862, not one well-identified example was discovered 

 west of Horton River, but during the winter scores of L. rupestris were met 

 with in the forest country east of Fort Anderson." 2 



The "Barren Grounds," so often referred to in connection with the breed- 

 ing grounds of numerous birds, are thus described by Mr. R. MacFarlane in a 

 paper entitled, "On an Expedition down the Begh-Ula or Anderson River:" 

 "The belt of timber which at Fort Anderson 3 extends for over 30 miles to the 

 eastward, rapidly narrows and becomes a mere fringe along the Anderson 

 River, and disappears to the northward of the sixty -ninth parallel of latitude. 

 The country is thickly interspersed with sheets of water varying in size from 

 mere small ponds to small and fair sized lakes. In traveling northeast toward 



' Report on the Natural History Collections made in Alaska 1877-1881, Nelson, p. 136. 



2 From K. MacFarlane's Manuscript on Land and Water Birds Nesting in British North America. 



3 Established on Anderson River in 1861, and abandoned in 1866. Approx. lat. 68° 35'. 



