The Willow Ptarmigan 
239 
Nest 
and Eggs 
Precocious 
Chicks 
last tracts affected; so that by the middle of October some will be seen 
with dark feathers still predominating in the head and back. This, of 
course, gives much the same effect as at an early stage of the spring molt. 
The Willow Ptarmigan selects the site for its nest during the third 
week of May, and by the second week of June sets of eggs are usually 
complete. The nest is a slight depression in the moss 
on the open ground ; usually the summit of a hum- 
jmock is selected, as being a drier situation during the 
I period of early summer rains. A scanty lining of dry grasses keeps the 
eggs from actual contact with the saturated moss of the foundation. 
The full set of eggs numbers from eleven to thirteen. They are very 
deeply and closely spotted and blotched with chestnut-brown, the effect 
being to render them difficult to distinguish from their surroundings. The 
female does all of the sitting, and when approached on the nest does not 
take flight until almost trodden upon. She then exhibits the greatest 
solicitude, tumbling about within a few yards of the intruder in the most 
distressing manner ; but the male bird stays at a more discreet distance. 
After the eggs are hatched, the precocious young- 
sters are accompanied by both parents. They then 
have the faculty, like that of young quails and grouse, 
of concealing themselves at a moment’s notice, while the parents attempt 
to call the intruder’s attention elsewhere. The young at first are clothed 
with yellow and brown down ; but before they are half-grown this is 
entirely replaced by loose-textured feathers, and even before half-grown 
the chicks are able to fly as readily as the adults. 
In summer, the Willow Ptarmigan’s bill of fare includes many sorts 
of insects, as well as green herbs. In the fall, the abundant crops of 
blueberries, heathberries, cranberries, and roseapples are freely resorted 
to, and these fruits again become available the following spring, when the 
retreating snow leaves them exposed. 
The reader will have marveled already at the special and useful modi- 
fications in the habits and structure of the ptarmigan, which enable it to 
carry on a successful existence under so extreme a winter climate. Per- 
haps the most wonderful thing about the bird is its alternating adaptations 
to the opposite conditions of the short summer. Not 
only is the summer plumage of a totally different gen- Molting 
eral color, as already described, but it is much less 
dense than the winter plumage. The molts, however, do not affect the 
feathers of every part of the body. Those of the wings and tail are 
changed only at the time of the fall molt which, in fact, is the only com- 
plete molt. The feathers of the feet and legs are not replaced in the 
spring ; but, as summer advances, the old feathers become brittle and zvear 
off, until midsummer finds the birds with almost naked feet — a heavy 
feathering at that season probably being not only needless but a hindrance, 
as it would certainly become when wet. 
The toe-nails in winter are so long as to project considerably beyond 
