﻿WHITE-TAILED 
  PTARMIGAN. 
  47 
  

  

  species 
  Lagopus 
  rupestris 
  veinhardi 
  feeds 
  on 
  insects, 
  leaves, 
  berries, 
  

   including 
  the 
  crowberry 
  (Empetrum 
  nigrum), 
  tender 
  leaves 
  of 
  the 
  

   dwarf 
  birch 
  and 
  white 
  birch, 
  willow 
  buds, 
  and 
  sorrel. 
  a 
  Samuel 
  

   Hearne 
  notes 
  that 
  the 
  rock 
  ptarmigan 
  eats 
  the 
  buds 
  and 
  tops 
  of 
  the 
  

   dwarf 
  birch 
  {Betula 
  gland 
  ulosa). 
  h 
  Kumlien 
  examined 
  a 
  crop 
  that 
  

   was 
  crammed 
  with 
  sphagnum 
  moss. 
  c 
  

  

  THE 
  WHITE-TAILED 
  PTARMIGAN. 
  

  

  (Lagopus 
  leucurus.) 
  

  

  The 
  white-tailed 
  ptarmigan 
  is 
  found 
  above 
  timber 
  line 
  in 
  Alaska, 
  

   in 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  British 
  Columbia, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  higher 
  Cascades 
  

   south 
  to 
  Mounts 
  Hood 
  and 
  Jefferson. 
  It 
  ranges 
  south 
  along 
  the 
  

   Rocky 
  Mountains 
  through 
  Colorado 
  to 
  northern 
  New 
  Mexico. 
  Unlike 
  

   the 
  other 
  species, 
  this 
  ptarmigan 
  has 
  no 
  black 
  feathers 
  in 
  the 
  tail. 
  

   Writing 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  in 
  Colorado, 
  W. 
  W. 
  Cooke 
  says 
  that 
  it 
  breeds 
  

   above 
  timber 
  line, 
  virtually 
  under 
  arctic 
  conditions, 
  and 
  that 
  only 
  in 
  

   most 
  severe 
  winters 
  does 
  it 
  descend 
  into 
  timber. 
  He 
  records 
  that 
  it 
  

   breeds 
  at 
  from 
  11,500 
  to 
  13,500 
  feet 
  altitude, 
  and 
  wanders 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  

   summits 
  of 
  peaks 
  1,000 
  feet 
  higher. 
  Nesting 
  takes 
  place 
  early 
  in 
  June 
  

   and 
  is 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  other 
  ptarmigans. 
  In 
  winter, 
  when 
  the 
  birds 
  

   descend 
  to 
  lower 
  altitudes, 
  the 
  sexes 
  are 
  in 
  different 
  flocks. 
  

  

  The 
  white-tailed 
  ptarmigan 
  is 
  a 
  trusting 
  creature, 
  lacking 
  the 
  fear 
  

   necessary 
  for 
  self-preservation. 
  Clark 
  P. 
  Streator, 
  while 
  employed 
  

   by 
  the 
  Biological 
  Survey 
  in 
  the 
  Cascade 
  Mountains 
  of 
  Washington, 
  

   reported 
  that 
  one 
  could 
  approach 
  within 
  10 
  feet 
  of 
  it, 
  that 
  miners 
  

   killed 
  it 
  with 
  stones, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  very 
  good 
  for 
  food. 
  

  

  In 
  Colorado 
  public 
  sentiment 
  is 
  strongly 
  in 
  its 
  favor, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  

   protected 
  by 
  an 
  absolutely 
  prohibitory 
  law. 
  The 
  ptarmigan 
  is 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  sights 
  pointed 
  out 
  to 
  tourists 
  in 
  the 
  Colorado 
  mountains. 
  It 
  s 
  

   status 
  here 
  may 
  be 
  contrasted 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  willow 
  grouse 
  in 
  the 
  

   north, 
  where 
  thousands 
  are 
  killed 
  by 
  Eskimos 
  and 
  Indians. 
  Killing- 
  

   birds 
  for 
  food, 
  however, 
  even 
  by 
  wholesale, 
  has 
  its 
  excuse, 
  but 
  whole- 
  

   sale 
  slaughter 
  for 
  millinery 
  purposes, 
  such 
  as 
  has 
  overtaken 
  the 
  

   ptarmigans 
  in 
  the 
  Old 
  World, 
  is 
  unpardonable. 
  A 
  single 
  shipment 
  

   of 
  ptarmigan 
  wings 
  in 
  Russia 
  consisted 
  of 
  10 
  tons. 
  d 
  

  

  FOOD 
  HABITS. 
  

  

  During 
  winter 
  in 
  Colorado, 
  according 
  to 
  Professor 
  Cooke, 
  they 
  

   subsist, 
  like 
  other 
  ptarmigan, 
  largely 
  on 
  willow 
  buds. 
  The 
  stomachs 
  

  

  « 
  Life 
  Hist. 
  N. 
  Am. 
  Birds, 
  [I], 
  p. 
  80, 
  1892. 
  

  

  b 
  Journey 
  to 
  Northern 
  Ocean, 
  p. 
  416, 
  1795. 
  

  

  c 
  Bull. 
  15, 
  U. 
  S. 
  Nat. 
  Mus., 
  p. 
  83, 
  1879. 
  

  

  <* 
  Engelhardt, 
  A 
  Russian 
  Province 
  of 
  the 
  North, 
  1899. 
  

  

  