AMERICAN PTARMIGAN. 
121 
neck, and back, are several new feathers which are broadly barred with 
orange-yellow and dark brown. The feathers in the loral space are black 
only at the base. The shafts of the six outer quills are brownish-black, and 
all the tail-feathers, the two middle excepted, are greyish-black, with a 
terminal narrow band of white. 
Length to end of tail 14 inches ; bill along the ridge T 5 2 , along the edge of 
lower mandible ; wing from flexure 8 ; tail 41 ; tarsus l/y ; middle toe 1 , 
its claw t ® 2 - 
The bill seems to be narrower than it generally is in the Rock Grouse, 
but the description and dimensions of this bird are scarcely different from 
those of an individual of that species in the same state of plumage. 
A specimen in the Museum of the Andersonian Institution, marked 
s Lagopus vulgaris , Ptarmigan, Melville’s Island,” is a male in winter 
plumage. The bill is brownish-black, as are the claws. A black band 
extends from the bill to the eye and behind it. The general colour of the 
plumage is pure white, as are the two middle tail-feathers, the rest greyish- 
black, narrowly tipped with white. The third quill is longest, two-twelfths 
longer than the second, which exceeds the first by an inch and five-eighths. 
Length to end of tail 14§ inches ; bill along the ridge xi ; wing from 
carpus 8 t 2 2 ; tail 5 ; tarsus 1 }| ; middle toe and claw lyy. 
Another specimen marked “ Lagopus vulgaris, Ptarmigan, Melville’s 
Island,” is in summer plumage. The general colour of the upper parts, fore- 
neck, and sides, is reddish yellow, finely undulated transversely with black- 
ish-brown and greyish white ; the bars on the head and neck larger. The 
middle tail-feathers are similar to those of the back; the rest brownish black, 
tipped with white. There is little white on the lower parts, and that only 
in patches. The greyish-white undulations in this individual tend to approxi-. 
mate its colouring to that of some specimens of the Scottish Ptarmigan, but 
still the prevailing tint is not grey, but brownish-yellow. 
Bill xi of an inch long ; wing from flexure 8 ; tail 5 ; tarsus lji. 
A specimen marked “ Ptarmigan, Melville Island, Aug. 15, 1820,” is a 
young bird, marked like the old, but with the bands larger. The fore part 
of the wings, the primaries, the secondary coverts, and the abdomen, are 
white. 
Vol. V. 
IV 
