Sept., 1920 NOTES ON SOME BIRDS OF INTERIOR ALASKA 179 
or Spruce Hen. Common resident. Specimens were preserved from Fairbanks, Tanana, 
and from the head of the North Fork of the Kuskokwim; and they were noted also at 
Takotna, Akiak, and on the Kuskokwim-Yukon portage. They occur in white spruce— 
paper birch forest, in black spruce forest, in blueberry patches in the valleys, and in 
burned forests of white or black spruce. Many are killed for food by the natives and 
whites. 
In the fall they are found in flocks and they become fat on the blueberries, cran- 
berries, and other fruits of the region. Their winter food is the leaves and buds of the 
spruces. When in a tree and excited by some object the note kwack, kwack, may be 
given, and this is repeated more rapidly when about to take flight. However, they are 
usually entirely silent. 
A hen taken May 7, 1912, near the head of the North Fork of the Kuskokwim 
contained an egg ready to be laid. On June 23 a female and a flock of eight or ten yel- 
lowish chicks just able to fly were seen at the Kuskokwim end of the Kuskokwim-Min- 
chumina portage. This hen showed great distress at our proximity and scolded until 
all the chicks had hidden themselves. July 29 a flock of nearly grown young with an 
adult female were seen near Takotna. 
Bonasa umbellus yukonensis. Yukon Ruffed Grouse. Local names: Willow 
Grouse, and rarely White-meated Grouse. Common in lowland willow thickets and in 
white spruce-birch forest; one was seen dusting itself on a dry river-bar. Noted at 
Tanana, Birches, Cosna River, Lake Minchumina, head of the North Fork of the Kus- 
kokwim, mouth of the Takotna River, Takotna, and below Akiak. In winter their most 
important food is willow buds. At that time of year they often burrow into the snow 
for protection. March 10, 1912, two were flushed from snow tunnels among black 
spruces about fifty yards from the white spruce—paper birch forest along the North Fork 
of the Kuskokwim near its head. This was at 10 A. mM. and their crops were filled with 
willow buds which must have been eaten that morning. The first drumming in 1912 at 
this locality was heard April 21. 
A hen and a flock of young were seen near the head of the North Fork on June 
8; and a deserted nest was found under a birch tree near the river bank on June 11. 
Another flock of very small young was seen June 14. A group of young about the size 
of quail was noted at the junction of the McKinley Fork, July 2. Well-grown young 
were seen July 29 near Takotna. A flock of half-grown young was seen below Akiak 
on August 11. . 
For the use of the name Bonasa w. yukonensis see Grinnell, Condor, 18, 1916, p. 166. 
Lagopus lagopus lagopus. Willow Ptarmigan. Local names: Valley Ptarmigan 
and Tomican. At Tanana they spend the summer on the high bare hills north of the 
Yukon, but in the fall and winter after the snow has covered the ground they come 
lower and are found in open places, such as areas of nigger-heads, in the Yukon and 
Tanana Valleys in flocks of from three to two hundred birds. They may often be found 
in willows, especially where these are open and do not grow too tall, as in the dwarf 
willows above timber-line, and in winter they also visit the willows in the valleys. 
Patches of blueberries and dwarf birches, especially on the hills above timber-line, are 
a favorite habitat. Sometimes they may be found in open black spruce forest or among 
burned black spruces. Several flocks were seen on the Cosna River, February 17 and 
18, and others near the head of the North Fork of the Kuskokwim on March 7. 
A hen with a flock of young was seen in black spruce forest near Lake Minchu- 
mina, June 23, 1912. Young and old in large flocks were common in late August in the 
willows and on the partly bare bars of the Kuskokwim below Kaltshak, and on the 
tundra of the Kuskokwim-Yukon portage north of Kaltshak. Thousands in large flocks 
were seen in early September on the tundra along the Yukon below Andreafski. 
On September 16 several in a partially exhausted condition alighted on board our 
steamboat off the mouth of the Yukon near Kotlik, when we were about a half-mile 
from shore. After leaving Nome, September 26, with an offshore wind a flock of six 
or seven flew on board the ocean steamer when the nearest land was at least fifty 
miles away. These birds were completely exhausted and could be easily picked up in 
the hand. At that time of year many ptarmigan must perish in Bering Sea. 
The food in the fall, as found by stomach examinations, is almost entirely ber- 
ries. In winter they feed principally on the buds of willow and dwarf birch. 
