Nov. ,191 5 
NESTING OF THE WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN 
217 
came together for a conference ; and while discussing the matter Olson broke out 
laughing and pointed down to the ground, where, within six feet of me and not 
ten feet distant from any one of us, was the bird resting down flat in the grass. 
I supposed she was simply crouching and hiding, as I had seen them do before, 
there being nothing to suggest a nest. Telling the hoys to stand still where they 
were, I approached her cautiously from behind and inserted my hand beneath 
her, at which she ruffled, scolded, turned her head and pecked my hand several 
times. Raising her sufficiently from the nest to look beneath I discovered two 
eggs lying there in water. I then let her gently back on to the nest, she still 
clucking and pecking at me, my hand being wet from contact with her. 
It being wet, sloppy ground all about, water in the nest, and melting snow 
within fifteen or twenty feet, the conditions surprised me, and I remarked to 
the boys that, barring the altitude, it was more suitable ground for the nest of a 
grebe or Black Tern than for a ptarmigan. I then had Durand prepare his cam- 
era and photograph her on the nest (see fig. 73). I then lifted her, on my hand, 
out of the nest and placed her down within a foot of it, she still scolding and 
pecking my hand, and he again photographed her and nest (see fig. 74, showing 
the eggs lying in about a half-inch of snow water). He then photographed the 
cock (see fig. 72), which was and had been during all this time not over twenty 
feet distant from us and the hen and nest. We then left the birds, and repaired 
to camp some one and a half miles distant, hunting over the bare ground en 
route, with no other results than a couple of pipit nests. 
The next morning, June 22, we were off at seven o’clock, with lunches, 
glasses, etc., taking no camera, as Durand had previous to my arrival secured 
a good series of ptarmigan photos, covering the same ground as on the previous 
day, with much additional territory, but, though we located some six or eight 
pairs of ptarmigan and two single cocks, we failed to discover another nest. 
On our return trip, we visited the site of yesterday’s find and, though the 
ptarmigan were not in sight, I told the boys to watch for the leucosticte while I 
inspected the ptarmigan nest, which I had yesterday marked carefully with a 
small pile of stones on a flat rock, with a tag marked “15 feet due west.” Not- 
withstanding this, a five minutes search did not reveal the nest, at which 1 called 
the boys down. They came, laughing, to where I was and stood looking in 
amazement for a moment, when Olson said “AA 7 hy, it was right beside that stone 
your foot is on!” A closer search with the aid of the fingers revealed the nest, 
lightly covered with dead grass that obscured the eggs, and looking exactly 
similar to, and indistinguishable from, a dozen other barren spots the size of 
one’s hand, or larger, over which the wind had blown a light fluffy deposit of 
dead grass. An examination disclosed the two eggs, only, still lying about half 
submerged in snow water. Leaving the cover as nearly as possible as found, 
we departed for camp. 
On the way to camp, T decided on the following plan, which I unfolded to 
the boys after supper and instructed them to carry out the next morning. Each 
was to roll up some of his bedding and canvas for sleeping purposes and take 
sufficient food for four meals, together with such other appliances necessary 
(omitting cameras and other heavy stuff) to prepare him for stopping over 
night ; leave the glacier about two-thirds the way up, for the first promising 
ground, then scatter out and, as soon as a bird or pair of birds were found, 
Durand, who was in charge, should leave Olson with the bird or birds and have 
him not lose sight of them under any circumstances until it was too dark for 
him to see; then he should camp right there with the bird or birds until morning 
