LAGOPUS LEUCUEUS. 
Swain. 
WHITE-TAILED PTAEMIHAH. 
TETRAO (LAGOPUS) LEUCURUS. Swain and Rich., Fann. Bor. Amer., vol. ii., 1831, p. 356, pi. Ixiii.— Nutt., Man. Ornith., vol. ii., 1834, 
p. 612. — Ib. vol. i., 2d edit., 1840, p. 820.— Doug., Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xvi., p. 146. 
TETRAO LEUCURUS. And., Oru. Biog., vol. v., 1839, p. 200, pi. 418. 
LAGOPUS LEUCURUS. And., Syn., 1839.— Ib. Birds of Amer., vol. v., 1842, p. 125, pi. 302.— Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii.— Baird, U. S, 
P. R. R. Exp. and Surv., vol. iv., p. 637.— Bon., Geog. and Comp. List Birds, p. 44, No. 291.— Elliot, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sciences 
(1864), p. 
It is with mucli gratification that I am enabled (througb tbe kindness of Professor Baird, who, with his accustomed liberality, has placed 
in my hands the large collection of American Grouse and Ptarmigan belonging to the Smithsonian, to assist me in my investigations for this 
work,) to give a representation of this species in its full summer plumage. Heretofore it has only been known to us by descriptions, or by 
one or two mutilated specimens in the winter dress, and only lately have examples been received, as represented in the plate. It is an in- 
habitant of the lofty peaks of the Rocky Mountains, and of the snowy heights that look down upon the Columbia River. Like all the true 
Ptarmigan, this species turns white in winter, and is readily distinguished from all its relatives by having the tail always of a pure unmixed white. 
This species was first obtained by Mr. Douglass, but he failed to bring his specimens home with him. He says in his paper : “ But in the 
first place I may be permitted to mention a new species, nearly allied to T. Lagopus, but much smaller, with a white tail, and when in winter 
dress, snow white, without the least particle of black. This is an inhabitant of the Rocky Mountains, and the snowy peaks of Northwest 
America. During my journey across the dividing ridge in April, 1827, I kiUed several, which, from the extreme difficulties to be surmounted 
at that early season of the year, I was reluctantly obliged to leave behind me. This loss I do not now regret, as Dr. Richardson was fortunate 
enough to secure the species, an accurate description of which will be shortly given by him in his forthcoming Fauna of British North 
America.’ ” Richardson, in the work above mentioned, says : “ Of this species I have only five specimens, four procured by Mr. Drummond 
on the Rocky Mountains, in the fifty-fourth parallel, and one by Mr. Macpherson on the same chain, nine degrees of latitude farther north. 
* * The sexes of my specimens were not noted, but none of them have the black eye stripe; and Mr. Drummond, who killed great 
numbers, is confident that that mark does not exist in either sex.” 
The habits of the White-tailed Ptarmigan are said, by the authors quoted above, to resemble those of the Ptarmigan {Lagopus Mutus). 
Preferring the temperature of eternal snow, they descend to the lower portions of the mountains only for the purpose of incubation, and 
return again to their loved mountain tops as soon as that duty is accomplished. These birds are admirably adapted by nature to withstand 
the most intense cold, being so densely and completely covered with feathers as to leave only the bill and ends of the nails exposed to the 
piercing blasts which sweep over their snow-clad homes. The change of plumage also is an additional protection given to them by the all- 
wise Creator, for clad in their winter dress of pure white, they are so assimilated to the snoAV around, as to render them invisible, even to the 
searching eye of the hungry hawk ; and in summer, by approaching to the hues of the lichen and moss, they are almost impossible to be 
distinguished from a clod or turf as they nestle closely to the ground. They, like all of the Lagopidse, do not commence to change from the 
summer to the winter dress, and vice versa, at the same time, in all individuals; and thus it is difficult to find two examples exactly alike. They 
also vary in the color of their plumage, some being much dai’ker than others, with broader bars upon the feathers ; sometimes even having large 
blotches of black upon the back. It is this dilference in the color of the plumage of individuals which has caused so much confusion in the 
classification of this family, and specimens have been described as new species, which eventually would prove to be but varieties. This, how- 
ever, has not been the case with the present species, as its white tail would at all times clearly separate it from every acknowledged species of 
Ptarmigan. 
If we would see them in their haunts, we must climb to the heights whereon they dwell ; — ^perhaps no easy task, — ^but the student of nature 
must incur fatigue, and overcome many obstacles, before he can acquire the knowledge which she seems so often to love to conceal. Up the 
rugged sides of a lofty mountain, whoso summit is clothed in perpetual snow, and rich in prismatic hues, our path lies ; and as, leaving the 
plain, we gradually ascend, the landscape, unfolding itself beneath us, with many checkered colors, is lost in the far horizon. The streams, in 
their w'andering course, glisten like silver threads upon the rich carpet through which they flow, and the entire view lies bathed in the mellow 
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