140 



DR. J. RAE ON THE BIRDS AND MAMMALS 



food for the Indians living near the coast of Hudson's Ba3^ These 

 birds extend their breeding-grounds up to the Arctic shores of 

 America, but as a rule do not extend their migrations to the 

 large islands further north. 



Dr. Bell says : — " The summer plumage of Tetrao saliceti, the 

 cock bird, is exactly the colour of the English cock pheasant 

 with the exception of the wings, which have a good deal of 

 white, and in winter the white of the living bird has a beautiful 

 delicate rosy tint, which forms a considerable contrast with the 

 surrounding snow." * This description is somewhat misleading. 

 The plumage of the cock willow-grouse in summer resembles as 

 nearly as possible that of the Scottish grouse, with the exception 

 that the primary feathers of the wings of the former are always 

 white. The " delicate rosy tint of the white plumage " is rarely 

 seen, and only in beautiful warm sunny winter or spring days, 

 never on a cold winter day. In the spring, or pairing season, 

 the call and peculiar habits of the Willow and Scottish cock 

 Grrouse exactly resemble each other. 



The Eock Grrouse {Tetrao rupestris) is so well marked by 

 its smaller size, its more slender beak, and the black patch 

 extending from the angle of its mouth to the eye in the male, 

 that it cannot be mistaken for any other. 



A third species differs considerably from Tetrao saliceti and 

 rupestris, being fully as large as the former, but the bill seems 

 shorter, its feet smaller, and its call perfectly different from either 

 of the others; it is also found further to the north. I saw a 

 good many males (the hens were nesting) on Wollaston Land, 

 lat. 69° N., in May and early June, and managed to shoot a few, 

 although they were very wild, possibly with the intention of 

 leading me away from the nest t- 



At Toronto, Lake Ontario, Canada, an island forms an excellent 

 harbour. Along the outer side of this island an immense number 

 of a small sandpiper, called " black heart " (the Dunlin, Tringa 

 alpina pacifica), pass northward every season on the 23rd April 

 (St. George's day) and are not seen on any other day, except, 

 perhaps, some wounded ones on the 24th that cannot continue 



* See " Notes on Birds of Hudson's Bay " by Eobert Bell, M.D. Proceedings 

 of the Royal Society of Canada for 1882, vol. i. p. 49,— J. R. 



t There is, I think, a specimen of this bird in the Natural History Museum 

 at South Kensington called Tetrao mtitus, but certain distinguished naturalists 

 do not believe in it. I brought one or two specimens from the Arctic regions 

 in 1847, which were presented to the British Museum. — J. R. 



