120 
AMERICAN PTARMIGAN. 
although it presents all the characters of the Roclc Grouse or Ptarmigan. 
It is less than the Scotch Ptarmigan, and its wings are much shorter, and 
even more concave ; and in these respects it corresponded with the other two 
specimens, which however had the plumage pure white, wdth the exception 
of the tail-feathers and the shafts of the primaries. I have therefore named 
this bird, as a species distinct from either, Lagopus Jl meric anus. I have 
seen three specimens in the Museum of the Andersonian Institution of 
Glasgow, which were purchased from Captain Sabine, and which I think 
may be referred to this Ptarmigan, or at all events are different from the 
Rock Grouse. In the present state of our knowledge as to the changes 
and variations of plumage in Ptarmigans, it is impossible to form a decided 
opinion in many instances ; nor will the subject be free of doubt until each 
alleged species has been traced through all its gradations. 
Tetrao lagopus, Sabine, Richardson, &c. 
Tetrao (lagopus) mutus, Ptarmigan , Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 
350. 
Common Ptarmigan, Tetrao mutus , And. Orn. Biog., vol. v. p. 196. 
Male, 141, wing 8A 
Melville Island. Churchill river. 
The following is the description of the individual represented in the plate. 
Adult Male. 
Bill short, robust ; upper mandible with its dorsal outline curved, the 
ridge and sides convex, the edges overlapping, the tip declinate, thin edged, 
rounded ; lower mandible with the angle short and wide, the dorsal line 
convex, the back broadly convex, the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the 
tip blunt. Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the feathers. 
Head small, ovate ; neck of moderate length ; body full. Feet of ordinary 
length, robust ; tarsus feathered, as are the toes.; the first toe very small, the 
middle toe much longer than the lateral, which are nearly equal, the inner 
being a little longer. Claws slightly arched, depressed, broad, thin-edged, 
rounded at the end. 
Plumage compact, the feathers ovate and rounded ; those on the tarsi, 
toes, and soles, oblong, with loose stiffish barbs. Wings rather short, 
concave ; the primaries strong, narrow, tapering, pointed ; the first an inch 
and ten-twelfths shorter than the second, which is four-twelfths shorter than 
the third, the latter being the longest. Tail rather short, nearly even, of 
sixteen broad feathers, of which the two middle are less strong, but longer 
than the rest by a quarter of an inch. 
Bill black ; superciliary membrane scarlet ; claws greyish-yellow, dusky 
toward the base. The plumage is pure white ; but on the head, sides of the 
