GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, ETC. 
129 
KEY TO SPECIES OF LAGOPUS. 
1. General color of upper parts gray, in fall plumage. 
leucurus, p. 129. 
1'. General color of upper parts buffy, in fall plumage. 
altipetens, p. 129. 
304. Lagopus leucurus Swains. Rich. White-tailed Ptar¬ 
migan. 
Adults in winter. — Pure white. Adults in summer: plumage spotted, 
barred, or mottled with black and rich buffy brown except for white 
wings, tail, legs, and belly; the white tail hidden from above by long 
mottled coverts. Adults in fall: similar to summer, but dark parts more 
uniformly gray, with finer markings and only a trace of buffy. Young: 
tail gray. Wing: 6.37-6.75, tail 3.81-4.07, bill .37, tarsus 1.13-1.22. 
Distribution. — Above timber line in Alaska, mountains of British 
Columbia, and higher peaks of Cascades, south to Hood and Jefferson. 
Nest. — On ground in open situations, a depression in the grass, or an 
actual nest of interlaced grass stems, weed tops, and feathers. Eggs : 10 to 
16, more or less heavily spotted or marbled with dark brown or black on a 
buffy or light rusty ground. 
Food. — Grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, and other insects, as well as 
young foliage, buds, flowers, and catkins. 
Well above timber line along the crests of the higher mountain 
ranges these hardy furry-footed little grouse live among the rocks 
and heather beds, where, although the food supply is small, they 
find an abundance, there being little^orno competition from birds of 
like habits. 
In summer they keep close to the retreating snow-banks and often 
make their nests beside permanent glaciers. Their usual landscape 
is patched with snow as their plumage is with white. But though 
they are colored for safety among the glaciers, the dark parts of their 
plumage make them blend in with the rocks so perfectly that they 
are almost invisible when not moving — a fact they seem to appre¬ 
ciate, for they sit still until you almost step on them. 
Vernon Bailey. 
304a. L. 1. altipetens Osgood. Southern White-tailed Ptar¬ 
migan. 
Slightly larger than leucurus and similar 
to it in winter and summer plumages, but 
in fall plumage more brownish, the upper 
parts pale cinnamon rufous. Wing 7.10- 
7.44, tail 4.30-4.72, bill about .37, tarsus 
1.13-1.28. 
Distribution. — Colorado and New Mexico. 
In Colorado the local name for the ptarmigan is ‘ white quail.’ 
GENUS TYMPANUCHUS. 
General Characters. — Sides of neck with a conspicuous tuft of stiff, 
pointed feathers and an inflatable air sac ; head with a slight soft crest; 
Fig. 203. 
