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126 WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. 
Plumage compact, the feathers ovate and rounded ; those of the tarsi and 
toes with loose stiffish filaments. Wings short, concave ; primaries strong, 
narrow, tapering, pointed ; the third and fourth longest. Tail rather short, 
slightly rounded, of sixteen broad feathers. 
Bill greyish-black ; superciliary membrane scarlet ; claws greyish-yellow, 
dusky toward the base. The plumage is entirely pure white. 
Length to end of tail 12 inches ; bill along the ridge i%, along the edge of 
lower mandible ; wing from flexure ; tail 4 ; tarsus 1 T 2 5 ; middle toe and 
claw 1 T V 
Dr. Richardson’s description of the summer plumage is as follows : 
“ A summer specimen (lat. 54°). Head and neck shortly barred with 
blackish-brown and pale wood-brown or brownish-white ; the front of the 
neck paler. Dorsal plumage, tail-coverts, scapulars, tertiaries, and the 
posterior lesser coverts, blackish-brown, cut about half way to the shafts by 
rather coarse ochraceous bars, intermixed with nearly an equal number of 
feathers, ochraceous throughout and thickly undulated with fine black lines. 
The breast, belly, and flanks are mostly pale ochre, broadly blotched and 
barred with blackish-brown, intermixed on the belly with some white 
feathers, and on the breast with a few of the finely undulated ones. The 
vent, legs, tail (which is only partially grown), the outer border of the wing, 
primaries, secondaries, and greater coverts, are white. The toes partially 
naked, not pectinated ; the nails short and much worn.” 
