152 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ALASKA. 



anterior bait' and the basal balf much lighter, even having a decided shade of yellow. The mouth 

 is yellow. The flesh of this species is very nice when the skin has been removed. 



The Russian name of the bird is Morskoi Ptoolch,ov Sea Cock. The Aleutian name is Helch at 

 Unalashka and Regis at Atka. At Attu the bird is only known by reputation, and is there called 

 'Helh, from its note. 



It has never been observed outside of the limits defined above. Mr. H. W. Elliot does not 

 place it in his list of birds from the Pribylof Group. I did not observe this bird at Kadiak Island, 

 though Messrs. Dall and Bannister, in the List of the Birds of Alaska, with biographical notes, 

 Transactions Chicago Academy of Sciences, 1869, recoid that it was obtained abundantly at Kadiak 

 and Sitka. 



The great distance between Kiska and Bouldyr Islauds, together with inability to sustain 

 protracted flight, may prevent this bird from attaining the westernmost islauds of the Aleutian 

 Chain. 



298. Dendragapus canadensis (Linn.). Canada Grouse. 



The Canada Grouse occurs in the wooded districts of the Yukon Valley. It is common in 

 some localities and rare in others. The lowest point on the Yukon River where it is found is at 

 Mission. 



The specimens obtained by me were from Nulato and Anvik, in March, 1876. 



300 b. Bonasa tjmbellus umbelloides (Dongl.). Gray Buffed Grouse. 

 The Gray Ruffed Grouse is a resident of the wooded districts of the Yukon Valley. It is 

 abundant at Nulato and Anvik. 



The specimens which I obtained were from Nulato, March 15, 1S75. 



301. Lagopus lagopus (Linn.). Willow Ptarmigan. 



The Willow Ptarmigan is found in abundance on all the lower-ground regions of the entire 

 mainland coast, including the Peninsula of Aliaska. It prefers the more level, open localities, 

 and is rarely found near the edge of the wooded districts, it being there replaced by the Dusky 

 Grouse, J), obseurus fuliginosus ; the Spruce Partridge, D. canadensis, and the Gray Ruffed Grouse, 

 B. umbellus umbelloides. Though during winter the Ptarmigan seeks shelter under the willow 

 patches or other bushes on the creek banks and in the ravines, I have never observed this species 

 on the Peninsula of Aliaska or on any of the Aleutian Islands. The physical character of those 

 regions precludes the probability of it inhabiting them, it being there replaced by L. rupestris, 

 and it alone. The Willow Grouse is always abundant where found. 



In the last part of March, or by the 10th of April, the male begins to show few markings of 

 rich brown on the neck. This is so constant a period that the Innnit have adopted it as the name 

 of their fourth month, and call that month Kup ndkh chih, or when the neck of the Ptarmigan is 

 half brown. 



The mating season begins by the middle of May. The male selects his mate by going through 

 a series of fantastic antics, such as spreading his wings, his tail outspread and thrown over the 

 back, the neck ruffled, and head either thrown back to meet the tail feathers or else stretched along 

 the ground, while he utters a hoarse, barking croak and starts into the air with a bound, to sail and 

 flutter round and round in a circle, and, alighting a few yards from her, to advance to her as though 

 he wanted to run over her, but stopping when near to stretch up his neck and again go through 

 the same performance. Woe to another male which thinks to coax away the object of his choice. 

 The intruder has only to be seen by the other when a battle takes place. They seize each other 

 by the feathers or comb. They pull and jerk until the one or other is exhausted. The intruder is 

 nearly always vanquished, as the other would die before deserting his chosen female. 



The natives have taken advantage of his pugnacious habits and capture great numbers of the 

 males by preparing a stuffed male aud fastening it firmly to a sharpened stick inserted into the 

 body and securely tied to it. They then have a small net of three or four feet square, to which are 

 fixed two pegs, one at each corner, to fasten it securely to the ground. The native sets out in 

 search of a pair, and can hear them before loug, as they are near some patch of snow on the open 



