﻿46 
  GROUSE 
  AND 
  WILD 
  TUB 
  KEYS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  Baird, 
  Brewer, 
  and 
  Bidgway 
  have 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  crops 
  of 
  ptar- 
  

   migans 
  were 
  often 
  found 
  to 
  contain 
  a 
  double 
  handful 
  of 
  Avillow 
  buds. 
  u 
  

   L. 
  M. 
  Turner 
  writes 
  thus 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  in 
  Alaska 
  : 
  6 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  winter 
  these 
  birds 
  subsist 
  on 
  the 
  past 
  year's 
  twigs 
  of 
  willow 
  and 
  

   alder 
  or 
  other 
  bushes. 
  I 
  have 
  cut 
  open 
  the 
  crops 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  these 
  winter-killed 
  

   birds 
  and 
  found 
  them 
  to 
  contain 
  only 
  pieces 
  of 
  twigs 
  about 
  one-third 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  

   long, 
  or 
  just 
  about 
  the 
  width 
  of 
  the 
  gape 
  of 
  the 
  posterior 
  horny 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  bill, 
  

   as 
  though 
  this 
  had 
  been 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  measurement 
  in 
  cutting 
  them 
  off. 
  The 
  

   flesh 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  is 
  dry 
  and 
  of 
  a 
  peculiar 
  taste. 
  In 
  spring 
  the 
  ptarmigans 
  con- 
  

   gregate 
  in 
  great 
  numbers 
  on 
  the 
  willow 
  bushes 
  and 
  eat 
  the 
  tender, 
  swelling 
  buds. 
  

   The 
  flesh 
  then 
  acquires 
  a 
  bitter 
  but 
  not 
  unpleasant 
  taste. 
  As 
  open 
  weather 
  

   advances 
  they 
  find 
  berries 
  that 
  have 
  remained 
  frozen 
  the 
  entire 
  winter, 
  and 
  

   tender 
  grass 
  shoots, 
  and 
  later, 
  insects. 
  The 
  young 
  are 
  insectivorous 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  

   degree 
  in 
  their 
  youngest 
  days. 
  They 
  consume 
  great 
  numbers 
  of 
  spiders 
  that 
  

   are 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  warm 
  hillsides. 
  

  

  In 
  writing 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  willow 
  grouse. 
  Major 
  Bendire 
  says 
  

   that 
  the 
  buds 
  and 
  tender 
  leaves 
  of 
  birch 
  are 
  eaten, 
  and 
  the 
  berries 
  of 
  

   cranberry, 
  whortleberry, 
  and 
  arbutus. 
  6 
  Wilson 
  and 
  Bonaparte 
  state 
  

   that 
  it 
  feeds 
  on 
  berries, 
  including 
  the 
  crowberry 
  (Empetrum 
  nigrum) 
  

   and 
  the 
  mountain 
  cranberry 
  (Yaccinium 
  vitis-idcea). 
  a 
  

  

  THE 
  ROCK 
  PTARMIGAN. 
  

   (Lag 
  opus 
  rupestris.) 
  e 
  

  

  The 
  rock 
  ptarmigan 
  inhabits 
  arctic 
  America 
  from 
  Labrador 
  to 
  

   Alaska 
  (including 
  the 
  entire 
  Aleutian 
  chain, 
  where 
  the 
  willow 
  ptar- 
  

   migan 
  is 
  unknown). 
  It 
  is 
  similar 
  to 
  the 
  latter 
  bird, 
  but 
  smaller 
  and 
  

   has 
  a 
  black 
  line 
  from 
  the 
  bill 
  to 
  the 
  eye 
  by 
  which 
  it 
  may 
  readily 
  be 
  

   distinguished. 
  This 
  bird 
  is 
  less 
  common 
  than 
  the 
  willow 
  ptarmigan 
  

   and 
  prefers 
  more 
  rocky 
  and 
  elevated 
  situations. 
  Owing 
  to 
  its 
  smaller 
  

   size 
  and 
  fewer 
  numbers 
  it 
  is 
  far 
  less 
  important 
  to 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  the 
  

   north 
  as 
  an 
  article 
  of 
  food 
  than 
  the 
  willow 
  ptarmigan. 
  

  

  FOOD 
  HABITS. 
  

  

  Xo 
  stomachs 
  of 
  the 
  rock 
  ptarmigan 
  have 
  been 
  available 
  for 
  exami- 
  

   nation. 
  In 
  Alaska, 
  during 
  May, 
  E. 
  W. 
  Xelson 
  found 
  it 
  feeding 
  on 
  

   berries 
  of 
  the 
  preceding 
  season. 
  f 
  Major 
  Bendire 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  sub- 
  

  

  a 
  Hist. 
  N. 
  A. 
  Birds, 
  Land 
  Birds, 
  III, 
  p. 
  461, 
  1874. 
  

  

  6 
  Nat 
  Hist. 
  Alaska, 
  p. 
  153, 
  1886. 
  

  

  c 
  Life 
  Hist. 
  N. 
  A. 
  Birds, 
  [I], 
  p. 
  74, 
  1892. 
  

  

  d 
  Am. 
  Ornith., 
  IV, 
  p. 
  328, 
  1831. 
  

  

  e 
  Besides 
  the 
  typical 
  Lagopus 
  rupestris 
  of 
  arctic 
  America, 
  the 
  rock 
  ptarmi- 
  

   gans 
  of 
  North 
  America 
  include 
  the 
  Bernhardt 
  ptarmigan 
  (L. 
  r. 
  reinhardi) 
  , 
  of 
  

   Greenland 
  and 
  northern 
  Labrador; 
  the 
  Welch 
  ptarmigan 
  (L. 
  ivelchi), 
  of 
  New- 
  

   foundland; 
  and 
  four 
  forms 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Aleutian 
  Islands 
  — 
  L. 
  r. 
  nelsoni, 
  L. 
  r. 
  

   atkhensis, 
  L. 
  r. 
  toicnsendi, 
  and 
  L. 
  evermanni. 
  

  

  f 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  Coll. 
  Alaska, 
  p. 
  136, 
  1887 
  (1888). 
  

  

  