238 O. HELMS. 
1908, Oct. 2nd. Today I was hunting up on Orsuluiak and Sömands- 
fjeld and, at a height of more than 2000 feet, saw a number of 
ptarmigan in flocks of from 4 to 20, but they were too shy for 
me to get one bird. With one or two exceptions they were all 
in pure winter dress. 
1908, Nov. 20th. One or two shot now and then. 
1911, Nov. 5th. On a hunting trip today I saw only 2. 
1911, Nov. 13th. One or two seen and shot. 
1911, Dec. 2nd. One or two seen during the day. 
1911, Dec. 10th. А number shot every day. 
1912, Aug. 10th. It seems as if all the birds this summer are much 
earlier than usual. Ptarmigan young have already long been 
able to fly. 
1912, Sept. 24th. One or two seen and shot; they are now almost in 
winter dress. 
1912, Nov. 11th. One or two now being shot again. 
1913, Sept. 22nd. Shot а number with plumage changing. 
1913, Dec. 13th. No ptarmigan at present. 
1914, Nov. Ist. On a hunting trip saw none. 
1923, October. None seen during the whole month. The reason is pre- 
sumed to be that there are many falcons. 
From the foregoing will be seen how varied the appearance of 
the ptarmigan can be, and, in addition, that at certain times it appears 
in such large numbers that it is an important item in the supplies of 
the European households. The manner in which it appears at Angmag- 
salik is furthermore quite similar to its appearance on the west coast 
of South Greenland. At certain times it arrives in numbers, settles 
everywhere — in the immediate vicinity of the houses, too — and can 
disappear again just as quickly as it came. Sometimes it keeps quite 
low, at others high up in the mountains, usually depending upon the 
accessibility of its food. If there are large quantities of snow in the 
valleys, whilst the snow on the mountains has been swept away, it is 
met with high up. If the whole distriet is covered by a thick layer of 
snow, the ptarmigan cannot secure food and moves off elsewhere. 
The number of ptarmigan can at times be so large that there are 
flocks of hundreds, but never reaches the tremendous figures with 
which it can — although rarely — appear in West Greenland. On the 
east coast it is met with everywhere in large or small numbers, and ıts 
_ occasionally frequent appearance in winter at Angmagsalik is easily 
explainable, for it migrates to the south from the more northerly areas 
of the east coast, irregularly, however, according to the climatic con- 
ditions. On the west coast practically the same thing applies. 
