A NEW SUBSPECIES OF WILLOW GROUSE 
FROM NEWFOUNDLAND. 
BY DR. L. STEJNEGER. 
Lagopus alba alleni Stej7ieger. Newfoundland Willow Grouse. 
Subspecific Char: to Lagofus alba (Gm.), but distinguished 
by having the shafts of both primaries and secondaries black, and by 
having the wing-feathers, even some of the coverts, marked and mottled 
with blackish. 
Habitat : Newfoundland. 
The type specimen will be presented to the U. S. National Museum. 
It measures as follows : Bill from nostrils to tip, ii mm. ; wing (not flat- 
tened), i86 mm. ; tail-feathers, iii mm. ; tarsus, 40 mm. 
Four specimens, all in transition from autumnal to winter plumage, 
have been examined.* Auk, I, Oct., 1884. V’ 3 (,9 
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IMGANOF NEWFOUNDLAND 
3 Stream.— 
Pc^tridge (“pattridge,” in our local vernacular) of 
juite equal t© the Scotch grouse, and indeed resem- 
tl'at It IS difflcnlt to make out any specific difference 
fTOuSfc, goroock, or moorcock of Scotland, and the 
Nova. They are a most delicious article of food 
iidmit thatTire"fl:;7:::^T’ ''isitors to our shores 
admit that the flavoi of a plump partridge, well cooked, is unsurpassed 
111 r chness and delicacy. They are of respectable proportions, a toace 
Imlf w’h -»o™as to three pounds and a 
sri m sporting season opens, on the 1st of September, they 
are m prime condition, after feeding on the wild berries, the partridge 
berry and cranberry being their favorite food. In certain localities they 
are very abundant, and to the sportsman there can be nothing liner tha^ 
a day s partridge sliooting over onr breezy “baiTens,” daring tte flue an - 
tiimn weather The air is then cool and exhilara ing, ani tlm Sit 
skios the weird and charming scenery, varied by counties lafes or 
wbtT?f’ hills, covered to the summit 
vvfi.! *rr 'i™; lakelets bright with the white and yellow 
watei lilies, the bold headlands along the coast through whose summits 
g impses of the restless Atlantic are obtained-all these, with the ex- 
citement of the sport, combine lo furnish to the lover of nature a day of 
rapturous enjoyment. It is a thrilling moment to tiie genuine sports- 
man when, gun in hand and dog at foot, he finds himself among the par- 
ridge coverts. His faithful Boyer scents the game; every nerve in Ins 
frame quivers as step by step he thoiiglftfully and cautiously advances 
IiiceTli'vMr"“h “1“ Bttadenly pausing, the right fore paw bal- 
anced lightly, and every limb and muscle rigid as a statue, the beautifii' 
animal is at once transformed into a marble Niobe. Presently a whirr is 
tine ’ old cock rises on the 
'yng. Crack goes the gun and down tumbles the great bird, the scarlet 
tips over Ills eyes glistening like rubies, as with a thud that gladdens the 
fZmTmrt ’’7 ONJerhaps a whL family- 
father, mother and children— rises at once, and the double barrels bane 
at them right and left, bringing down two or three brace TtlLeTf 
late cover IS raised, the chickens of which are only two or three weeks 
old, . 111 st able to mil smartly along the ground. It is a touching sight 
then to see the cock fearlessly exposing his life to save the lives of hi, s 
m along the ground a few yards in advance of the 
do^s, rolling there in order to decoy the sportsman from the brood which 
the hen is anxiously calling into the thicket. No more touching instance 
of paternal afteetioii could be witnessed; no more touching proof amom. 
the lower creation of self-sacriflce, prompted by love. The poor feeble 
bud wonid almost attack dogs and men in his efforts to save-his chil- 
dren. No true sportsman would harm a bird under such circumstances 
Only a brute vyould Are upon it. The dogs are called off, and father and 
mother ptarmigan are soon rejoicing over their rescued family. 
After a day’s sport over the hills a supper of roast ptarmigan, with 
wild strawberry tart as an accompaniment, and trimmings composed of 
our sweet garden vegetables, is “a fSast lit for the gods.” Onr ptarmi- 
gan have in summer a plumage browuisli ash-gray in color, mottled and 
ban ed with dusky spots. This color, when the frost .sets in. gradually 
disappears, as in the Alpine hare, and at length when the snow falls it is 
almost pure White One peculiarity, however, in the Newfoundland 
bird IS, that the middle or incumbent pair of tail coverts are rarely found 
entirely white m winter, as they are stated to be in “Birds of North 
America ” p. 634. These reraarable changes, e.ffected as in the northern 
hare, without loss of substance, fit it ad-mirably for its situation; as the 
sportsrnan, if he have not a dog used to the game, may almost walk over 
the bird without putting it np. It is feathered and haired down the levs 
and between the toes, and maybe distinguished at a considerable dis - 
tance by the red about the eye. These birds are widely diffused over the 
island and it is no nneommon thing for a sportsman to bag in a day 
from a dozen to twenty brace. 
There can be no doubt that onr ptarmigan are the Willow Grouse (Laa 
opus albus) of naturalists, and they are the only lowland or snb-Alpine 
species indigenous to Newfoiinclland. Their food mainly consists of 
the buds and tender shoots, of birch, alder, black spruce, juniper &c. 
blit in the berry season they feast on partridge berries and cranberries.' 
They almost invariably roost on the ground, but are often shot feeding 
on the tops of birch and alder trees. Professor Baird says: “I find a 
considerable difference in different specimens of the large ptarmigan (L. 
alius) before me. Those from Eastern Labrador and Newfoundland ap- 
pear to have decidedly broader, stouter, and more convex bills than those 
from the Hudson’s Bay and more northern countries. I think it not im- 
probable that there may be two species.”- Professor Newton of Cam- 
bridge is, however, of a different opinion, He says: “None of Profes- 
sor Baird’s later writings have gone to strengthen the suspicion ex- 
pressed by him formerly as to the existence of a second species of wil- 
low grouse. I have compared a pretty good series of skins from many 
parts of North America, extending from Alaska to Newfoundland, and 
so far a^5 lean judge I haveno doubt they are of one and the same spe- 
cies, which IS further identical with the willow grouse of Europe Tetrao 
(Temmlck;) T. stiMlpinus (SffWson.)" 
AI, times, in some districts, they are so tame that they can be killed 
with a stick, and at others so wild that they will not allow you to ap- 
pioacli w ithin gun slio^and such is generally the caai;Ln yjnter, w hen 
, the snow IS hard and crusty, and the noise made in approaching them 
I alarms them. They are shot at all times by our population in the more 
j distaiit districts, hut a close time is now fixed by law, which will have a 
good effect where the law can be enforced. 
There is another species found in Newfoundland, but it is compara- 
tively rare-the Rock Ptarmigan, L. nipestris (Gmelin). It is a truly al- 
pine species, and is seldom found below the line of stunted black spruce 
except in the depths of winter, when they descend to the low lands and 
feed on the buds of dwarf trees, sometimes in company with the willow 
grouse. Our settlers call this the “mountain partridge.” M. H. 
THE SCENT QUESTION. 
-C „ Nicasio, Marin CO., Cal., July, 1814. 
Editor Eorrst and Stream: — 
In an article in a back number relating to quail withholding their 
scent, 1 expressed the opinion that sitting birds gave off no scent. In 
m^akmg this statement I had reference to the California quail, which is 
about the size of our eastern quail, but differs from it in pUiinage and 
somewhat m habits. The California quails, both male and female, have 
a plnme on the top of the head which can be raised or depressed at will . 
1 heir plumage is of a slate color, and unlike our eastern quail, thev 
roost 111 trees at night. They are very prolific, laying about nineteen 
e„gs, often more. I have seen twenty-seven. The nest is made in the 
ground and lined with flne grass. The bird, when sitting is about level 
with the surface. The eggs are placed around the sides of the nest. 
During incubation the birds lay very close, sometimes being killed by 
cattle stepping on them. A bevy, on being flushed, alight together, but 
are easily flushed a second time, when they scatter and lay well if the 
coyer IS good. I never had trouble in finding them as soon as I could 
get to them, if there was any dampness in the air; but in our di^ north 
wind the scent from some cause is so soon obliterated that I have often 
seen dogs flush quail by walking over them, and even stand with their 
foot on a dead bird, at a loss to know what had become of it But the 
same dog, on a damp day. would work out and retrieve Qve biiiidred and 
fifty quails. Having kept good dogs during many years, and never hav- 
ng seen one make a point on a sitting bird, I forjned the opinion that 
thare was no scent given off that a dog could detect. 
I trust my brother sportsmen will receive this in the true spirit of a 
sportsman, remembering that the best dogs can be at fault and the finest 
shots miss their birds, and that in all matters of opinion such as this, no 
one can be positive. Yours truly, Pioneer. 
