﻿WILLOW 
  PTAEMIGAN. 
  45 
  

  

  periods 
  of 
  famine 
  are 
  ever 
  recurring 
  among 
  the 
  natives, 
  and 
  these 
  

   birds 
  frequently 
  stand 
  between 
  them 
  and 
  starvation. 
  It 
  rears 
  but 
  

   one 
  brood 
  in 
  a 
  season, 
  nesting 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  early 
  in 
  June 
  and 
  laying 
  

   from 
  7 
  to 
  12 
  eggs. 
  By 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  August 
  the 
  young 
  are 
  nearly 
  

   grown. 
  In 
  the 
  northern 
  part 
  of 
  its 
  range 
  the 
  willow 
  ptarmigan 
  is 
  

   a 
  summer 
  resident 
  only, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  approach 
  of 
  winter 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   birds 
  migrate 
  in 
  large 
  flocks, 
  sometimes 
  numbering 
  a 
  thousand 
  or 
  

   more, 
  southward 
  or 
  inland 
  to 
  a 
  region 
  of 
  scattered 
  trees 
  or 
  bushes. 
  

   Ernest 
  Thompson 
  Seton, 
  quoting 
  from 
  Hutchins' 
  manuscript 
  con- 
  

   cerning 
  observations 
  at 
  Hudson 
  Bay 
  in 
  1782, 
  says 
  that 
  over 
  10,000 
  

   ptarmigans 
  were 
  caught 
  with 
  nets 
  at 
  Severn 
  from 
  November 
  to 
  

   Aprils 
  The 
  birds 
  are 
  so 
  tame, 
  especially 
  in 
  winter, 
  that 
  their 
  cap- 
  

   ture 
  is 
  easy. 
  Like 
  all 
  other 
  gallinaceous 
  birds, 
  ptarmigans 
  require 
  

   gravel 
  for 
  milling 
  their 
  food, 
  and 
  in 
  winter 
  deep 
  snow 
  makes 
  this 
  

   hard 
  to 
  procure. 
  The 
  natives, 
  taking 
  advantage 
  of 
  the 
  birds' 
  neces- 
  

   sities, 
  bait 
  their 
  nets 
  with 
  gravel, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  catch 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  

   300 
  at 
  one 
  spring 
  of 
  a 
  net. 
  6 
  E. 
  W. 
  Nelson 
  writes 
  of 
  encountering 
  

   flocks 
  of 
  several 
  thousand 
  white 
  ptarmigans 
  in 
  Alaska 
  in 
  midwinter, 
  

   and 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  whirring 
  of 
  their 
  wings 
  as 
  they 
  rose 
  sounded 
  like 
  

   the 
  roll 
  of 
  thunder 
  and 
  seemed 
  to 
  shake 
  the 
  ground. 
  He 
  reports 
  

   that 
  the 
  birds 
  are 
  snared 
  and 
  shot 
  in 
  great 
  numbers 
  by 
  both 
  the 
  

   Alaskan 
  Eskimos 
  and 
  the 
  Indians. 
  The 
  flesh 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  palatable 
  as 
  

   that 
  of 
  many 
  other 
  game 
  birds, 
  and 
  is 
  decidedly 
  dry 
  and 
  often 
  

   bitter 
  when 
  the 
  bird 
  feeds 
  on 
  willow 
  buds. 
  The 
  flesh 
  of 
  old 
  birds 
  

   is 
  dark 
  colored, 
  but 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  young 
  is 
  white 
  and 
  delicately 
  flavored. 
  

  

  FOOD 
  HABITS. 
  

  

  Study 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  willow 
  ptarmigan 
  unfortunately 
  has 
  

   been 
  slight, 
  for 
  only 
  five 
  birds 
  were 
  available. 
  Their 
  food 
  was 
  

   entirely 
  vegetable. 
  Three 
  shot 
  in 
  January 
  in 
  Labrador 
  had 
  eaten 
  10 
  

   percent 
  of 
  berries 
  and 
  90 
  percent 
  of 
  buds, 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  the 
  buds 
  

   being 
  willow. 
  One 
  stomach 
  contained 
  about 
  300 
  willow-flower 
  buds. 
  

   The 
  two 
  other 
  birds 
  were 
  collected 
  in 
  December 
  in 
  Labrador 
  and 
  had 
  

   eaten 
  willow 
  buds 
  exclusively. 
  Though 
  the 
  data 
  are 
  so 
  scanty, 
  the 
  

   results 
  agree 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  other 
  students. 
  Ludwig 
  Kumlien, 
  for 
  

   instance, 
  says 
  : 
  d 
  

  

  They 
  [willow 
  ptarmigans] 
  are 
  quite 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  larger 
  valleys, 
  where 
  

   there 
  is 
  a 
  ranker 
  growth 
  of 
  willows. 
  The 
  stomachs 
  of 
  those 
  I 
  examined 
  of 
  this 
  

   species 
  contained 
  willow 
  buds 
  and 
  small 
  twigs. 
  

  

  a 
  Proc. 
  U. 
  S. 
  Nat. 
  Mus., 
  vol. 
  13, 
  p. 
  514, 
  1890. 
  

  

  6 
  Hearne, 
  Journey 
  to 
  the 
  Northern 
  Ocean, 
  pp. 
  413-415, 
  1795. 
  

  

  cNat. 
  Hist. 
  Coll. 
  in 
  Alaska, 
  p. 
  132, 
  1887 
  (1888). 
  

  

  d 
  Bull. 
  15, 
  U. 
  S. 
  Nat. 
  Mus., 
  pp. 
  82-83, 
  1879. 
  

  

  