Tlio priiicipnl food of tlii.s species coiusists of tho leaves of plants, and sprouts of several kinds of willow, berries, &c. Wlioolwright, in
his account of this J’tarinigan, as quoted by Broc in Ids "Birds of Europe,'’ sitys th a t " th e Willow Grouse, in summer, is usually found
in valleys, mostly by tho side of the little bocks or mountain stroanis which run among tlic bushes and thickets. Yon always iind them
ill pains or families, with tho male and female together. You not only iind them, according to Nilsson, in the interior of the country, but
even on the coasts and islands. They ci-oiicli among the dwarf bhch, willow, or heather, and rarely rise until you nearly tread on them.
“ Soniotimcs, however, they rise very wild, and in the spring and antnmn a|)pear most shy. They almost always arc on the ground,
and very rarely porch in a tr e e : but altliough I have myself seen, on more than one occa.sion, the Willow Grouse, when frightened,
. porch m the birch trees, it is so rare an occm rcncc that many deny it. Tlieir flight appears to me exactly to resemble th a t of the Rod
Grouse, and as they fly they iittcr a loud cackle ivhicli much resembles ‘ crrackaokackli,’
In the sliapo ami .size of the bills of tlic.se birds the most astonishing differences exist, nnd I liave never been able to find two exactly
alike. They range all tlio way from tlio robust and powerful to tliosc almost as small and delicate as ohavaotcrizc tho Lugopus Mtdus.
Tliis peculiarity is not confined to particular localities, else it might almost be considered of specific value; but mcmbcre of the same
flock will differ in this re.spcct as much among themselves, as though they were indeed of separate origin.
With specimens before me from La|)land, Sweden, Denmark, Einland, Russia, and thioiigliont the northern portion of the American
continent, I Iind this i-ariation in the bill common to all, aud do not consider it as indicative of any specific distinctncs.s, as those specimens
which arc in the summer ilvcs.s present a general similarity of coloiing in their )iluniugo.
Baiixi, ill his valuable work on “ North American Birds," in the ai-ticle on this species, speaks of some specimens in his po.ssc.s.sioii from
Labrador and NowfoiuKlland, ivi.icb " appear to liavc decidedly broader, stouter, and move convex bills than those from Hudson’s Bay and
more northcvn conutries," and says that it is pos-sible there may bo two species.
Among the large miinbcr of Willow Grouse obtained by Mr, Kcnnicott, I Iind specimens from Great Slave Luke, Maokciizie Kivcr, and
Fort George, as well as others brought from La|.lund and S«-odcii, which hai-e as huge bills as any from Ncwfoimdlaiid; while from tliesc
same locnlitic.s, and out of the same flocks, arc other examples ivith much smaller and more feeble bills. I t would therefore seem to be
tho reasonable conclusion, that, milcss the summer dress sliould be very unlike tlm typical style of L. Albus, this variation in the bill must
be deemed as of no ¡larticular importance in deciding the species to wliich the bird may belong, but merely one of those iinaccoimtahic
freaks of nature occa.sionnlly met with. 'J’hiis far I have not seen any specimen of Ptarmigan of the Albns style, in its suiiiincr dress,
which presented undoubted evidences of belonging to a different species.
All Ptarmigan vary so raucli from ciicli otiiev, tliat, iu order to determino a good species, many adult .specimens in summer plumage
must be aiailablc; for I do not consider it at all likely tbat any species of Ptarmigan, established solely upon n skin of the bird when
in its winter plumage, would stand the tost of future rcscai-ch, as it could present but few, if any, reliable differences to distinguish it
from otiiors.
Some specimens, in winter, have the bill nearly covered with fcathei-s, giving to it'th e appearance of being quite small, whereas in
summer it would bo the reverse; and the feathers on the legs nnd feet grow so long and thick as to cause the latter to seem shortened.
I have iiiclnded among the synonyms of this s|)ccics the Lagopus Brach/dactghis of Temmiuck, a.s I cannot porccii e any satisfactoiy
diffovcnccs given in his description to constitute his specimen as distinct. Tho bill, nearly hidden by feathers, is charactcri.stic of all Ptarmigan
in the winter dross, ns is, also, having the le.gs and feet densely covered.
As these birds vary so greatl)’ in the color of their plumage, it is not siii'iirising that some should liiivc tlic shafts of the pi-imaric.s
white; blit this would not he a reliable cliaractev to establish a spccie.s upon. I have .seen specimens of L. AUms in winter dres.«, which •
had the shafts of some of tho primaries nearly white, while the rest were dark brown.
From the moasiircnicuts given by Teinminck, although they arc rnthcr less than i.s usual, this bird ivoiild seem to belong to the
Lagopus xUbus; but as it has no black stripe tlirongli the eye, it may ¡lossibly be a female of the L. Mutus.
Amid a number of Ptarmigan sent to me by Mi-. Gould from London, foi- my inspection, and to n-liom I take tills opportunity of
expressing my thanks for his kindness, was a specimen fi-om Arctic America, answei-ing to the description of Braelajdaetglvs, which,
excepting the white shafts of tho priinai-ies, agreed with many e.xamplcJ in my possession fi-om Great Slave Lake, .is none of those last,
in the siiiumci- dross, present any material differences fi-om tho L. Albus, 1 cannot but consider them as identical.
Anotlicr specimen in Jlr. Gould’s series was a liybi-id between this species and the Canaee Canadensis. It was in summer dress, and
had tlie slciKlcr nails and structnrc of feathers of the Spruce Gronse; ivhiie a iinmber of wliitc feathers, showing an evident inclination to
cliaiigc ill winter, betokened tho Ptai-niigan blood.
The Willow Ptannigan dwell chiefly upon the plains, ami in this respect differ from the Lagopus Mulus, which makes its homo upon
tho mountains, near the line of perpetual snow. Richardson states tliat, " like most otlicr birds that summer within tho Arctic circle, they
arc move in motion in tlie mildoi- light of mglit tlian in tlic broad glare of day."
This species I,as a very wide distribution, as it is found in the liigli latitudes of both the Old nnd Now lYorkls, being ahimdant in
Sweden, Norway, Lapland, Rns.sia, Siberia, Greenland, and tlii-ouglioiit the Arctic regions of Noi-tli Amci-ica. It is not found in the
British Islands.
In Slimmer, the adult male has the head, nock, and breast chestnut, sometimes very dark, nearly black on the b reast; bai-rod on the
top of the head and back of tlie neck with black; cliin sometimes black, w-itli a white spot on each side. Rest of upper parts black,
transversely barred with roddisli yellow. Tail black, tipped with white, the two centre feathers marked like the back, Wing.s, abdomen,
thighs, and legs ]mre white. Under tail coverts brown, barred ivith black. Nails long, brown, and flat bencatli.
The female, in snmmei-, is rusty yellow in color, thickly barred and blotched with dark bi-oivn and black. This yellow lino extends
throughout tho lower parts, sometimes white feathers appearing about the abdomen; the flanks are barred with blackish brown. Wings,
legs, and feet pni-e white. Tail black, tipped with white; upper oovorts mottled like the back ; lower coverts yeliowisli, barred with
dark brown. Bill black. Nails similar to those of the male.
^1 ^
II q %