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146 THE CONDOR Vol. XXII 
that though the doves may forsake the cultivated fields they feed in flocks on 
the desert wherever food is available and that large numbers remain until Octo- 
ber or later each year. The practise of hunting these doves in the nesting season 
is inexcusable, save in occasional instances where it is necessary to protect crops. 
With the rapid settlement of the country and the reclaiming of land under new 
irrigation projects at present under way, the large colonies of the White-winged 
Doves in the lower Gila Valley will disappear. The mesquite groves in which 
these birds nest furnish valuable wood for domestic use and for fence posts so 
that the mesquite montes are being steadily cut away. The doves will in conse- 
quence be reduced in number as they have been elsewhere, near Phoenix and 
Tueson, but should remain fairly common, as scattered pairs will continue to 
nest on the desert and others will take up domiciles in cottonwoods and other 
trees scattered through the cultivated fields and along the irrigation ditches. 
Washington, D. C., February 18, 1920. 
A NEW PTARMIGAN FROM MOUNT RAINIER 
By WALTER P. TAYLOR 
WITH THREE PHOTOS 
of white-tailed ptarmigan, Riley has suggested (Canadian Alpine Journal, 
1912, p. 60) that a specimen from Mount Rainier, Washington, in the Biolog- 
ical Survey collection, U. S. National Museum, probably represents a distinct 
form. Additional material secured on Mount Rainier in 1919 by a field party of- 
the Biological Survey and codperating institutions demonstrates the accuracy of 
Riley’s suggestion. For the loan of material or access to collections I am in- 
debted to Prof. J. W. Hungate, of the State Normal School, Cheney, Washington, 
Stanley G. Jewett, Portland, Oregon, J. M. Edson, Bellingham, Washington, and 
to the authorities of the U.S. National Museum. For many helpful suggestions, 
the loan of measurements in manuscript, and other courtesies, I am under obli- 
gation to J. H. Riley of the U. S. National Museum. Edward A. Preble, T. S. 
Palmer, Alexander Wetmore, and Harry C. Oberholser of the Biological Survey 
have also been generous with advice and help. 
Lagopus leucurus rainierensis, new subspecies 
Rainier White-tailed Ptarmigan 
Lagopus leucurus, Ridgway,.Man. N. Amer. Birds, ed. 2, 1896, p. 202 (probably 
part); Chapman, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 16, 1902, p. 237 (part); Dawson, Birds 
of Washington, 1909, vol. 2, p. 590 (part); American Ornithologists’ Union Check-List of 
North American Birds, 1910, p. 142 (probably part); Riley, Can. Alp. Journ., 1912, pp. 
59-60 (part). & 
Diagnosis.—Adults in nuptial plumage similar to Lagopus leucurus leucurus, but 
dark areas more blackish; buffy wash over light areas not so consistently present, and 
when present paler. 
Type.—No.. 269375, U. S. Nat. Mus. (Biological Survey coll.); adult female; Pin- 
nacle Peak, 6,200 feet, Mount Rainier, Washington; July 19, 1919; collected by W. P. 
Taylor; original no. 479. 
ie COMMENTING on the status of the three currently recognized subspecies 
