Id! :î:ii
‘i:
white, but tlie last remigcs, tertials, and a miiiilicr of the greater rectrices towards tlie back, are non summer feathers, as shown in the |ilato. Tlie
scapi of the rcmige* are wl.ite, witl. a fiiseous or blackish stripe along Ihe middle, l.nt terminating long before tl.e cmi of tl.e feati.er is reaelicd.
The rest of the coloring does not differ f.-om tlic males from Gieciiland and leelaml witii wliieli 1 liave been eiinl.le.l to eomparo it, Tlic only
fault iu the figure I have meutioiied, is, tl.at tl.e lores are not dark enougli, wliiel. is caused l.y the fact tl.at ti.e greater portion of tl.e l.luek
feathers arc out, and tlic new ones liad not been ))ei-fccted.
" Withii. a few years we have obtai.ied two otlicr speeimens : one, a nmle in pure loinler d.rss ,• wl.ite, w itli l.roa.I, |.erfeetly l.luek lores ; shot
on north c
Besides the t>
of Spitzbergcn, 1st of June, 18C1, ami brought home with Tl.orell's expedition. It is iu u bud state, but the tail is eoiiiplete.
o wliite rectrices tliere arc seven l.lack to eacl. side ; 150 millimetres long, aiul tlie base, for 50 millimctres, wliitc, witli tlic slmft as
in the first S].cci.uen, but wliitisi. for «bout 20 millimetres .learer tl.e cud of tl.e fentl.e.', Tlie remigcs, like tl.e former, linve a dark middle stripe
along the shaft. Di.i.e.isious a little greater. Total length, moderately stretched, 450 n.ilUmetres; wiug, 228 ; tail, 150. It is tlii.x larger than
Gould's female.
Our third specimeu, a male, was l.egitmiug to moult,—sliot tlic 7lli of July, 1804, nt Icefjord, mul brouglit liome by Mulmgrcii. It is also in
poor preservation, nud is white: but tl.e head, neck, regis scupularis, have very many new- sm.iiiicr feathers. Tail ami remigcs exactly like those
of the two other spccime.is, but ilimcusi.ms a little greater. Lc.igtl. of wing, 235 millimetres: tail, about 150 ; bill aud .mils, l.lackisb, as in tl.e
two former. Tlie white on the base of tlic tail is eoiiccalci! l.y tlie surroimdii.g featliei-s iu all tlirec .«¡.ecimeiis.
••Aliare in a bad state, as the two latter expeditious could not rcmni.i a long time in each place, ami tl.e skins drv vcrv slowly in tliat
climate. My own speci.iien would have bco.i l.etter if it l.ad uot been moi.lting, with most of its featlicre blood fe a lL s . This bir.l seems
to be scarce a t Spitzbcrgen, in all tlirec instances. In ours there were no more obtained than tl.e one l.io.iglit home, and ouly a t Icefjord
did Malmgreii sec two more. Mr. Gould’s oi-i.ithologist says lie found tiiem very picutiful : imt lie proimblv only met one somewlmt’ lar-o family
which he has stoutly destroyed. A great number of travcllere, who sl.oot only to kill, or perlmps to eat, e.mtributc very uiucl. t
tlic work of tlie icc-foxcs a t S|>itzbcrgcn, aud of tlic comimm foxes in otiier places.
-- In the specimeu brouglit li.mic by mo tliere w-ere only ¡.lants iu tlie æsophagus saceus, as leaves ami fiowcre of Saxifragae, e(
states (in tlic Rev. of the Acad, Sc., of Stoekl.oim, 1864, j., 370), timt he o.iee lieard a sound uttered bv tlie male like a r ,r or e.
voice, rescDibliiig somcwliat the croaking of a frog, Fabrieius also remarks tins in the (ireenlaml s.meies
0 perfect
:c, Malmgrcii
rr, in a coarse
"On II,.* will, III, „„Ire f,„,„ Grreiil.ii.l „ d I„„l.„d, th .,„ I..I „ „ f„.„d l„ 1„ „„,d . .„ „ lie , ( , |„ g I9 0 .„d 193 ,.i|||,„ „t,.„|,
and the base of tlio rcctaees nmcli less wliitc, wiiieli color does not extend faitlier on tl.e sliaft t
remiges arc l.lack for tlicir whole breadth. As these diffei-ciices i
n the web; also, the shafts of the
) be eoustant, tlicy are suffieient to render tlic S)>itzbcrgeii bird
always recognizable from tlie otiier two, and tiuis entitle it to be considered a distinct fori e ...ay .. it to be of different
■•I have a female from Greci.lamI, aud in this the white basil part of the outer rectrices has really a little iliffcreuce in form from the
males. It is larger ou the outer siiic. From tlic European Lagopus Mutus tliey all diffe.-. evideutlv. tlie ...ales more, the females from
Greenland less, iu color, but they come very close to it in tho form of tlic hill, black lores, etc."
As it SCC...S j.rctty evident tl.at tlm extent of the white on the tail varies considc.ably in differc.it spocimeus-a fact whieli I imve
noticed in a large uuml.er of exa.iiples of Lagopus A lbus-tl.c elaim.s of tl.is bir.l for s,,ccif.e distinction re.st upo.i it.s large size which at
the be.st, ts a ve.y questionable s.ifflcic.iey: and it would seem most likely to be tl.e Lagoims R.ipestris: l.ut witiiout a.iv’.m.iibcr of
examples to enable me to for... my oi.inioii. I l.ave deemed it best to give a figure of tlm female sent to Mr. Gould, a ’
0 lio]ie tliat
some 110 very distant day will aftbr.l tlie mhtcriat for riglitly dcteriniiiiiig what is now so doubtful a point.