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La gopus b rachyd actylus .
T e t ra o bra ch yd a ctylus , Temm.
L e T e t ra s & doigts courtes.
Wn are indebted «0 the kindness o f M. Temminck for the loan o f his specimen o f this fine species, which he
informs us he mceived from the Baroa de Feldegg o f Fraakfort, who obtaiaed it from the aorthermaost par,
o f Russia. It is a remarkable aad well-deiioed species, differing from Lagopus Saliceti ia having the nilstrils
thickly covered and the bill almost hidden by feathers, ia its shorter aad thickly feathered tarsi, aad ia
having the shafts o f the primaries aad the aails o f the toes of. a pare white. We regret that we are unable
to give any account o f its habits aad manners, in which it doubtless closely resembles the other members of
its genus; or o f the localities it frequents, further than that it appears to be an inhabitant o f the extreme
nor hern regions o f the Old World. It is exceedingly interesting to the ornithologist, from the circumstance
of its forming another species o f that beautiful group the Ptarmigans.
I f we were more folly acquainted with its history, we should doubtless find that it is subjected to a change
o f p umage similar in every respect to its congeners, being o f a rich chestnut brown in summer, and o f a
spotless white in winter. M. Temmmck's specimen, which we believe to be unique, has the whole o f the
plumage o f a pure white, with the exception o f the tail-feathers, which are black; the bare skin over the eve
scarlet; and the bill black.
Our figure is rather less than the natural size.