The WILLOW PTARMIGAN (_Lagopus albus_) is about fifteen inches long and
twenty-four inches and a half broad; its wing measures seven inches and
a half, and the tail four inches and a quarter, the female is one inch
shorter and narrower than her mate. During the winter the plumage of
this beautiful bird is of a dazzling white, except the fourteen outer
tail-feathers, which are black, with white roots and edges; the six
largest quills have an oval brownish black streak in the outer web. As
the pairing season advances, the head and nape become reddish brown,
spotted and streaked with black, the feathers on the shoulders, back, and
rump, and those in the centre of the tail are black, edged with white,
and have lines of reddish brown or yellow over half their surface; the
tail-feathers become paler and lose their light edges. The primary quills
remain white as in winter, while the secondaries turn brown; the face and
throat are usually of unspotted reddish brown; the head, upper breast, and
thighs of a reddish hue, dotted and lined with black; the feathers of the
middle part of the breast are black, spotted with reddish brown and white,
and those of the belly and legs entirely white. The lower tail-covers are
black, marked with reddish brown and yellow, and the corners of the mouth
are decorated with white spots. The above colours often vary in their
shades, and in the course of the summer become much paler. The female
is always lighter in hue than her mate, and acquires her summer plumage
before the male. When the feathers begin to darken, the comb on the brow
becomes higher and of a reddish tint.
Many observers have assumed that there are two moulting seasons--the
first, which occurs in autumn, extends to the whole of the feathers;
during the second, which takes place in spring, the smaller feathers
alone are changed; but the winter clothing does not immediately replace
the summer dress, nor does that at once supersede the winter suit. On
this account it has been supposed by some that the Ptarmigan moults
four times in the year. American observers, on the contrary, think they
have perceived that the smaller feathers at least are not replaced, but
simply changed in colour. According to Richardson, "The second change
is occasioned, not by the reproduction of feathers, but by the coloured
ones becoming white, the process commencing on their tip. This alteration
takes place in scattered feathers, which at the same time lengthen, and in
a week or ten days the change is complete; spotted specimens undergoing
the change may be distinguished from spring ones by the worn state of the
tarsal feathers."
This Ptarmigan is spread throughout the northern parts of both the New and
Old World, although it is not found everywhere in the same numbers. It is
very plentiful in Scandinavia, and also in Finland, and Russia, and common
in the eastern coasts of the latter country, and in many parts of Siberia.
Radde did not meet with it about the Lake of Baikal or the Amur, and
therefore concludes that it does not stay there during the summer; but he
found it in Eastern Sayan, at a height of between five and six thousand
feet above the sea-level, on wide plains, overgrown with birch bushes. It
breeds in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, and upon the arctic coasts;
but collecting in flocks on the approach of winter, it retires southward
as the severity of the weather increases. Considerable bodies, however,
remain behind, even in the coldest winters. In the year 1819 its earliest
appearance at Cumberland House, latitude fifty-four degrees, was in the
second week in November, and it returned to the northward again before the
beginning of spring.
[Illustration: THE WILLOW PTARMIGAN (_Lagopus albus_). ONE-THIRD NATURAL
SIZE.]
These Ptarmigans prefer the shelter of birch or willow trees, and where
such abound are frequently met with in very large numbers, one pair living
close to another, but each holding its own small domain (usually measuring
about fifteen paces) with the utmost intrepidity against all intruders;
no sooner, however, is the breeding season over than the various families
unite into large flocks, and wander over the country to a considerable
distance. In disposition this species is lively, and its movements
generally restless and rapid, its broad, thickly-feathered feet enabling
it to run with equal facility over fresh snow or unsafe moss-covered
earth. Whilst in motion the head and tail are usually held down; but when
the bird is quite secure from danger, the body is kept much elongated, and
the head boldly raised erect. The flight is graceful and light, that of
the male accompanied by a loud resonant note as he is about to descend,
but the female utters no sound when on the wing. During very severe
seasons, or when an enemy is at hand, the Willow Ptarmigan frequently
takes refuge in the snow for warmth or shelter; and in very sharp wind,
or biting frost, it is not uncommon to see a whole flock snugly buried
in a snow-bed, close to each other, with only their heads protruding, to
enable them to detect the first sign of danger, in evading which they
exhibit a most wonderful instinct. Their food consists of leaves, buds,
blossoms, berries, and various kinds of insects; grain of all kinds they
also devour. The nest of this species is concealed with great skill in
some retired nook, and slightly lined with grass, earth, and feathers. The
small pear-shaped eggs are laid at the end of May or beginning of June;
they are from twelve to sixteen in number, and have a yellowish shell,
thickly covered with reddish-brown dots and streaks. No sooner are the
young capable of walking than they are at once led forth to seek their
food upon the neighbouring marshes and bogs, as the insects and larvæ of
which such localities afford a rich supply are particularly acceptable to
the delicate little family. Throughout the whole of the breeding season,
many and fierce encounters take place between the male birds, and from ten
o'clock in the evening till early morning their loud calls may be heard
challenging each other to a trial of strength, which usually continues
until the females gently warn their pugnacious partners that it is time to
retire to rest.