348 
LAG OP US A LB US. 
Here they spend their entire lives, feeding upon berries in summer and subsisting largely 
on the leaves of their favorite spruce and hemlock, during winter; so largely, in fact, that 
their feathers are redolent with the odor of the crushed leaves, while their flesh is quite 
bitter. 
Audubon states that these birds were so tame, they could be knocked down with sticks 
and this same fact is true at the present time, for I have known of instances where this 
has been accomplished. The Spruce G-rouse assemble in flocks through the autumn and 
winter, but are at this time quite local in distribution, while they are more or less migra¬ 
tory, moving from place to place; then as spring advances, breakup into pairs. They 
breed about the middle of May, placing the nest in some secluded locality. The young are 
fully fledged by September, but do not acquire the size of their parents until late in the 
following month. 
GENUS n. LAGOPUS. THE PTARMIGANS. 
Gen. Ch. Edges of posterior margin of sternum, not rounded. Costal process, truncated. Tip of keel, not projected 
well forward. Tarsus, feathered to the toes. No elongated feathers on neck. 
Members of this genus inhabit either mountainous or cold barren regions. They are white in winter, but become 
darker in summer. There are two species found within our limits. 
LAGOPUS ALBUS. 
White Ptarmigan. 
Lagopus albus Atjd., Syn.; 1839, 207. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, robust. Size, quite large. Sternum, stout and quite wide at posterior margin. Tail and wings, 
long. Bill, short, equaling in length, measured from nostril to tip, to height at base. Sexes, quite similar in color. 
Color. Adult in winter. White throughout, excepting tail which is black with the central feathers and tips of all, 
white. Shafts of primaries, dark-brown in the center. 
Adult in summer. Head and neck, yellowish-red. Back, black, barred rather finely with yellowish-brown and chest¬ 
nut, otherwise as in winter. Bill, black, iris, brown, feet, horn color, in all stages. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
A winter bird before me', taken at St. John’s Lake. Saguenay, Canada, has four or five narrow, black, transverse bars 
back of the eye. For difference between this and the following, see observations under that species. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 15‘00; stretch, 24’50; wing, 7’70; tail, 
5'50; bill, "86; tarsus, 1‘47. Longest specimen, 1600; greatest extent of wing, 25*00; longest wing, 8‘25; tail, O'OO; bill, 
•88; tarsus, 1 55. Shortest specimen, 14‘00; smallest extent of wing, 24*00; shortest wing, 7‘15; tail, 5-00; bill, - 75; tarsus, 
1-40. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed on the ground. They are not very elaborate structures, being composed of leaves, weeds, or^other con¬ 
venient material. 
Eggs, from eight to fifteen in number, rather oval in form, reddish-buff in color, spotted and mottled, usually quite 
thickly, with large, confluent blotches of purplish-brown. Dimensions from l'15xl'80 to 1'20x T85. 
HABITS. 
Among the first birds for which I inquired when I visited the Magdalen Islands, were 
the White Ptarmigans, but found that they did not occur there, excepting as rare winter 
