ON THE ORNITHOLOGY OF LAPLAND. 317 



the old birds as we did in the spring, old females 

 from the nest, and young chirpers that could 

 scarcely fly. Above 150 specimens passed through 

 my hands, in every stage of plumage ; and I will 

 now proceed to lay before the reader a statement 

 of facts and the inferences which I draw from 

 them. It is singular that the ptarmigan should 

 not be met with in Ireland. 



We are led to believe that both the ptarmigan 

 and willow grouse are found in North America, 

 and probably both are identical with the European 

 birds. Wilson, in his " Ornithology" of 1832, edited 

 by Sir W. Jardine, does not figure either ; but in 

 a note Mr. Douglas mentions the ptarmigan as 

 very rare, and the willow grouse, he says, inhabits 

 the far countries from the 50th to the 70th degrees 

 of north latitude, within which limits it is partially 

 migratory. Frank Forrester does not notice 

 either hi his " Game Birds of the United States 

 and Canada." 



In both the willovf grouse (Lag. siibalpina, 

 Miss.) and the ptarmigan the winter plumage is 

 exactly the same, pure white, with fourteen black 

 tail feathers ; and to the casual observer they 

 appear to be one and the same bird; but the 

 willow grouse is a larger and plumper bird, the 

 beak is thicker, and the male ptarmigan has a 

 black streak through the eye, which is wanting in 



