LAGOPUS HYPEEBOEEUS 
SPITZBEKGEN PTARMIGAN. 
LAGOPUS HYPERBOREUS. Journ. fur Oruith. (1863), p. 371. 
LAGOPUS ALPINUS — ^tak HYPERBOREA. Gaimard, AAy. en Scaud., 18m., Livrais. 
TETRAO LAGOPUS. J. C. Ross, in Parry's Attempt to reacli the North Pole, 1827, S. 193. 
EISYOGEL MARTEUS. Spitz. Reiseb. S., 53. 
LAGOPUS HEMILEUCURUS. Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1858, p. 354. 
This bird, although closely allied to the species I have designated as Lagopus Rupestris, yet on account of its great size would seem to 
be entitled to a specific distinctness. It was first obtained by Professor Sundwall (who accompanied the expedition of Gaimard), at Bellsund, 
about 77° 40' latitude, on the first of August in 1838. It was a male, and the only one obtained at that time. 
The next specimen, a female, was procured by Mr. Evans, and described by Mr. Gould as Lagopus Hemileucurus, on account of the basal 
portion of the tail-feathers being white. The following note was furnished to the above eminent ornithologist by Mr. Evans, and comprises aU 
that is known regarding this example ; 
“ The skin sent is the only one I have fi-om Spitzbergen, although I shot many. The birds were so plentiful that thinking I could always 
procure examples, I neglected to preserve any at the time, and was obliged to come away at last with only this one. 
“ The hen-birds had all assumed their summer plumage, but the males had not changed a feather, though the old ones, which had become very 
ragged and dirty, would almost fall off on being touched. I started one hen from her nest, or rather from the little dry hollow where she 
had collected a few stems of grass, and found two eggs ; these were all we met with ; the nest was placed in the high fields, where, in the dry 
parts, scarcely any vegetation is to be seen, while the swampy portions, where the snow had melted, were covered with coarse grass and the 
dwarf willow, which is the only thing approaching to a shrub on these barren, treeless islands. The specimen sent was shot on the 27th of June, 
on the south shore of Ja Sound, in about 77t° north latitude. 
“ The neighboring country consisted of a belt of swampy ground covered with rank grass, with high, rugged, and barren mountains rising 
behind, covered with snow, except on their sharp ridges and steep sides ; these mountains, which are interspersed with vast snow-clad plains, stretch 
away for miles inland, and rise with beautiful cones in the distance ; here and there, in a few sheltered spots, a scanty supply of small flowers is 
to be found, mostly belonging to the following families ; Draba, Ranunculus, Saxifraga, etc. The dark-gray rocks were covered with lichens in 
great variety, but of a gloomy and sombre hue, in strict keeping with the wildness of the scene ; here, too, the reindeer-moss grew in great 
abundance. I may remark that the Ptarmigan were so tame, that we could easily have knocked them down with a long stick — doubtless from 
being so unaccustomed to the intnision of human visitors.” 
I now give an extract from a letter written by Professor Sundwall to Professor Baird, replying to some interrogations made by the latter, at 
my request, regarding the specimens of this bird contained in the museum at Stockholm : 
(! * * * yg fQj. Spitzbergen species, I think there is no doubt that there is only one. The Lagopus Hemileucurus of Gould 
(1858) must be the same as my Lagopus (Alpimis var) Hyperborea in Gaimard’s Voyage (published before 1847, or, as I remember, in 1845). 
The only difference in the description is, that Gould says the rectrices are half part white, but in our specimens they are scarcely one-third of 
their length white ; which difference may arise from age or sex, as Gould’s is a female, and ours are all males. Our museum contains three 
specimens. The first, a male in summer plumage, shot 1st of August, 1838, at Bellsund, about 77° 40' latitude, and prepared by myself. It was 
the only one seen during the expedition, although we remained ten days at Bellsund. Of this specimen there is an excellent figure in Gaimard’s 
Atlas, drawn and colored here in Stockholm by one Wilhelm von Wright. The specimen itself is in a bad state, as the bird was moulting, and 
it has only one of the rectrices (the extreme left), which is 130 millimetres in length, but broken ; and it has lost nearly all the remains of the 
white apical margin. The base is only about 40 millimetres on the external web, but blackish on the whole inner. The scapus is 18 or 20 
millimetres long, whitish. Length of wing, 220 millimetres. The total length is now, as the bird stands with curved neck, only about 370 
milhmetres. In the figure, the length is 175 millimetres, but if the neck was more stretched, as it Avould be were the dead bird laid on a 
table, the total length would be more than 400 millimetres. Tarsus, 37 millimetres ; middle toe, 25, and with claw, 41 millimetres The wing is 
