WMITK-TAILEI) PTARMIGAN. 47 
species Layopus rupestris rc'niJhtrd} feeds on insects, leaves, berries. 
includin*; the crowberry {lim pcti'inn h'uffunt), tender leaves of the 
dwarf bircli and white birch, willow buds, and sorrel/' Saniiiel 
Ilearne notes that the rock ptarniipm eats the buds and toj^s of the 
dwarf birch {Ihfiila (/hnuhilosa).'' Knndien examined a croj) that 
was crannned with spha<2:ninn moss/ 
THE WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 
{lAU/opu.s Icucunis.) 
The white-tailed ptarniipm is found above timber line in Alaska, 
in the mountains of British Columbia, and in the higher Cascades 
south to Mounts Hood and Jefferson. It ranges south along the 
Rocky Mountains through Colorado to northern New Mexico. Unlike 
the other species, this ptarmigan has no black feathers in the -tail. 
Writing of this bird in Colorado, W. W. Cooke says that it breeds 
above timber line, virtually under arctic conditions, and that only in 
most severe winters does it descend into timber. He records that it 
breeds at from 11,500 to 13,500 feet altitude, and wanders up to the 
summits of peaks 1,000 feet higher. Nesting takes place early in June 
and is similar to that of other ptarmigans. In winter, when the birds 
descend to lower altitudes, the sexes are in different flocks. 
The white-tailed ptarmigan is a trusting creature, lacking the fear 
necessary for self-preservation. Clark P. Streator, while employed 
by the Biological Survey in the Cascade Mountains of Washington, 
reported that one could approach within 10 feet of it, that miners 
killed it with stones, and that it was very good for food. 
In Colorado public sentiment is strongly in its favor, and it is 
protected by an absolutely prohibitory law. The ptarmigan is one 
of the sights pointed out to tourists in the Colorado mountains. Its 
status here may be contrasted with that of the willow^ grouse in the 
north, where thousands are killed by Eskimos and Indians. Killing 
birds for food, however, even by wholesale, has its excuse, but whole- 
sale slaughter for millinery purposes, such as has overtaken the 
ptarmigans in the Old World, is un])ardonal)le. A single shipment 
of ptarmigan wings in Russia consisted of 10 tons.<* 
FOOD HABITS. 
During winter in Colorado, according to Professor Cooke, they 
subsist, like other ptarmigan, largely on willow buds. The stomachs 
oLife Hist. N. Am. Birds, [I], p. 80, 1892. 
''Journey to Northern Ocean, p. 41(5, ITOf). 
' Hull. 15, U. S. Nat. Mus.. p. 8;^, 1879. 
<i Engelhardt, A Hussiau Province of the Nortli, 1899. 
