_Tetrao albus_, GMELIN, I, 1788, 750 (Hudson’s Bay).—LATH. Ind. Orn.
II, 639. _Lagopus albus_, AUD. Syn. 1839, 207.—IB. Birds Amer. V,
1842, 114, pl. ccxcix.—BONAP. Am. Phil. III, new ser. p. 393, sp.
313.—GRAY, Gen. B. III.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 633.—BOIE, Isis,
1822, 558.—GRAY, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. III, 47, 1844.—BONAP. Geog. &
Comp. List. B. p. 44, No. 288.—ELLIOT, Monog. Tetraon. pl.—COUES,
P. A. N. S. 1861, 227.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 80.—DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Ac. I, 1869, 287.—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. III, 1872,
62 (Alaska). _Tetrao_ (_Lagopus_) _albus_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,)
1840, 816. _? Tetrao lagopus_, FORSTER, Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 390.
_Tetrao saliceti_, SABINE, App. Franklin’s Narr. 681.—RICH. App.
Parry’s 2d Voyage, 347.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 528, pl. cxci.—SAB.
App. Frank. Narr. p. 681. _Tetrao_ (_Lagopus_) _saliceti_, SWAINSON,
F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 351.—_Lagopus s._ GOULD. B. Eur. pl. _White
Grouse_, PENNANT. _Tetrao lapponicus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. I, 751, sp.
25.—LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 640, sp. 12. _Tetrao rehusak_, TEMM. Pig. et
Gall. III, 225. _Lagopus subalpinus_, NILS. Orn. Suec. I, 307, sp.
139. _Lagopus brachydactylus_, TEMM. Man. Orn. III, 328.—GOULD, B.
Eur. pl. cclvi.—GRAY, Gen. B. III.—BONAP. Consp. List. 44, No. 300.
[Illustration: =21462= ⅓ ⅓
_Lagopus albus._]
SP. CHAR. Bill very stout. Bill as high as the distance from the nasal
groove to its tip. Tail always black, narrowly tipped with white; wing
(except upper coverts) pure white.
_Summer._ _Male_ (43,505, Fort Anderson, September 8; MacFarlane). Head,
neck, and jugulum deep cinnamon-rufous; whole upper parts (except wings)
paler, more fulvous brown, broadly and closely barred with black. Top of
head spotted with black, and the jugulum and neck with scattered bars
of the same. Wing, 7.50; bill, .40 from nostril, and .35 deep. _Female_
(53,526, Fort Anderson, June, 1865; MacFarlane). Entire plumage (except
wings, tail, and legs) fulvous-buff, heavily spotted and barred above,
and regularly barred beneath, with black. Wing, 7.20; bill, .40 by .40.
_Winter._ Entire plumage, except the tail (which is black with a
white tip), immaculate snowy-white; shafts of primaries black. _Male_
(34,968, Northwest R., Labrador; D. Smith). Wing, 7.50; bill, .42 by
.45. _Female_ (50,060, Nulato, Lower Yukon, April 12, 1867; W. H. Dall).
Wing, 7.50; bill, .42 by .42.
_Chick_ (2,648, Fort Anderson, July, 1864). Prevailing color
greenish-buff, tinged with sulphur-yellow on the throat and abdomen,
and washed with fulvous on the upper parts. A large oval vertical patch
of chestnut-rufous, bordered all round by a black line, which, from the
occiput, is continued down the nape in a broad distinct stripe of black.
On the upper part of the back this stripe bifurcates, and continues
in two broad parallel stripes to the lower part of rump, where they
again unite. A black stripe across the wing and one through the eye and
auriculars.
HAB. Arctic America from Newfoundland to Sitka.
[Illustration: _Lagopus albus._]
HABITS. Richardson regarded this species as an inhabitant of the
fur countries from the 50th to the 70th parallel of latitude, being
partially migratory within those limits. It was found to breed among
the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, on the barren grounds, and along
the Arctic coasts. On the approach of winter it collects in flocks,
and retires southward as the severity of the weather increases. They
remain, however, in considerable numbers as far north as latitude 67°
even in the coldest winters. It was found to be tolerably abundant at
the 65th parallel all the year, assembling in vast flocks on the shores
of Hudson Bay in the winter time. Mr. Hutchins states that ten thousand
of these birds have been captured in a single season at Severn River.
Richardson adds that in 1819 these birds made their first appearance at
Cumberland House, latitude 54°, in the second week of November, and that
they returned to the northward again before the beginning of spring. In
the winter they are said to shelter themselves in thickets of willows
and dwarf birches, on the banks of marshes and lakes, the buds of the
smaller shrubs being the principal part of their food at that season.
Denuded sandy spots were their favorite resorts in the daytime, but they
passed their nights in holes in the snow. When pursued by sportsmen or
birds of prey, they often terminate their flight by hastily diving into
the loose snow, working their way beneath its surface with considerable
celerity. In thick, windy, or snowy weather they were very shy, perching
on the taller willows, where it required a sharp eye to distinguish
them from flakes of snow. In the summer season they feed chiefly on
the berries of the alpine arbutus and other shrubs and plants, which
are laid bare by the thaw, and which do not disappear until they are
replaced by a new crop. They incubate about the beginning of June, at
which time the females moult. The males assume their red-colored plumage
as soon as the rocks and eminences become bare, at which time they
are in the habit of standing upon large stones, calling in a loud and
croaking voice to their mates, which, still in their white wintry garb,
are hidden in the snows below. These birds are more usually in motion in
the milder light of night than in the broad glare of day.
Captain Blakiston traced this Grouse across the interior from Hudson’s
Bay to near the Rocky Mountains, and obtained a single specimen near
Fort Carlton. It does not come down every winter, however, so far south
on the Upper Saskatchewan. Near Lake Winnipeg, at Fort Cumberland,
and to the eastward, they are common every winter, and numbers are
obtained from the shores of Hudson’s Bay. Mr. Ross gives this species
as common on the Mackenzie. Mr. Robert MacFarlane found it around Fort
Anderson, where, he writes, it was always very numerous in that quarter
at all seasons, and generally not difficult of approach. During the
breeding-season the males were to be found perched upon trees and stumps
in the vicinity of the nest, while the female would rarely leave the
latter until almost trodden on. They are also said, by Mr. MacFarlane,
to assume their summer plumage earlier than the males, differing in this
statement from Dr. Richardson’s. Their nest is always on the ground, and
consists only of a few decayed leaves placed in a depression. Sometimes
other materials, such as hay, moss, feathers, etc., are found. While
incubating, the female occasionally sits so close as to allow herself to
be caught, rather than leave the nest.
They begin to nest early in June, varying a little with the season, not
commencing so soon where the ground at that period was still covered
with snow. Eggs taken from the oviduct were almost invariably pure white
in color. In one instance an egg taken from the oviduct of a female,
June 5, that had previously deposited eight eggs the same season, was
covered with coloring matter or marking so soft as to adhere to the
fingers when touched. After the female has once begun to lay, Mr.
MacFarlane observed that she deposits one egg each day until the whole
number has been reached. This varies from eight to ten.
The males were always observed in the immediate vicinity of the nest,
and began to assume their summer moult about the 6th of June, most
of their necks at that time being already of a reddish-brown color.
The nests were always on the ground, and were mere depressions lined
with a few soft materials, generally leaves, occasionally mingled with
feathers, hay, etc., the feathers often being their own. The same nest
was often made use of in successive seasons. Eggs were found as late as
the 24th of June, and the female is supposed to sit about three weeks
before hatching. Occasionally eggs were found dropped on the bare ground
without any signs of a nest. In one instance the egg was pure white,
like one taken from the oviduct. It was found lying on the bare ground,
without the least appearance of a nest in its vicinity.
In one instance where a nest was met with, on the banks of Swan River,
by Mr. MacFarlane’s party, _en route_, the female was almost trodden
under foot before she fluttered off, when she at once turned about to
face her enemies, spreading her wings and ruffling her feathers as if
to attack or frighten them away. In another case a nest containing only
one fresh egg, in which the female had but just begun to deposit, was
found as late as June 25. Other eggs found June 27 contained very large
embryos. Another nest, examined a fortnight later (July 10), had in it
ten perfectly fresh eggs. Mr. MacFarlane inferred that this nest had
been robbed at an early period of the season. This time she apparently
made no attempt at another laying.
In several instances where both birds were present near a nest that was
taken, the male bird would make his presence known by giving utterance
to very peculiar rough notes, indicative of alarm and of distress at
the proceedings. In one instance a nest was found in the midst of a
clump of very small stunted willows, within thirty feet of the spot
where Mr. MacFarlane’s tent was pitched. This was on the 21st of June,
but the nest escaped notice until the 22d of July, when the female was
almost trodden on as she was sitting on her eggs, where she had probably
had her nest during their entire stay. The eggs were warm when taken,
and their contents were slightly developed. During the night the male
Ptarmigan disturbed the encampment by keeping up a constant utterance of
his rough and rather unpleasant notes. In another instance the female
fluttered off, calling, and pretending to be badly wounded; while the
male bird, in the vicinity, made his near presence known by the loud
manner in which he expressed his disapprobation of such proceedings.
In one instance where an Indian had found a nest of this Ptarmigan,
which then contained seven eggs, the female was seen, and the notes
of the male bird were heard. He placed a snare about the eggs, but
on returning to the nest a few hours afterwards, he was surprised to
find that six of the eggs had disappeared during his brief absence. He
supposed a fox had taken them; but as no egg-shells were left behind,
Mr. MacFarlane has no doubt they were removed by the parent birds.
When the young are hatched they follow the parents, both of whom keep
about them, and display great courage and devotion whenever there is
any occasion, suffering themselves to be very closely approached, and
utterly regardless of consequences in their desire to save their young.
The latter are very hard to recognize, owing to their close resemblance
to the grass, in which they squat, and remain perfectly still.
In September and October of each season these Ptarmigans assemble in
large flocks, but during winter seldom more than two or three dozen
were ever noticed in single companies. They would often alight and feed
in the immediate presence of the men, and would even permit a very
near approach. During the winter they were frequently to be met with
between Fort Anderson and Fort Good Hope, in especial abundance about
the last-mentioned post. As the spring approached, they began to migrate
to the north; so that in the summer scarcely a Ptarmigan was to be seen
south of Lockhart River, on their usual line of march to that post. In
February, 1859, Mr. MacFarlane found them numerous to the very borders
of the wooded country, along the banks of the Lower Anderson.
Mr. Donald Gunn states that this Ptarmigan is very seldom to be seen
south or west of Lake Winnipeg, but is found in all the country north
and east of that lake during the winter season. In the summer they are
said to breed around Hudson’s Bay, and during the winter to be found
along the whole extent of that bay, especially if the winter is mild.
During severe winters they go more inland. The males of this species
are said by Mr. Gunn to crow morning and evening in the same manner as
the Moor-fowl in Scotland, the tone and notes being very similar. The
female is said to lay from ten to sixteen eggs, but the largest number
taken by Mr. MacFarlane appears to have been ten. These birds are of
great service to the Indians, serving as food when larger game fails;
and their feathers are also a considerable article of trade, several
hundredweight of them being annually sent to London.
Mr. Dall found this Ptarmigan abundant in Alaska, from Fort Yukon to the
sea. In winter they feed exclusively on willow buds, a double-handful
having often been found in their crops. As soon as the ground was
well covered with snow they appeared on the river in coveys among the
willow-thickets. They were rather shy, and on an alarm flew immediately,
but without noise. They made regular paths along the banks of the
river among the willows, along which they always ran. The Indians took
advantage of these to snare them, and caught them by hundreds. They
were abundant in the fall and midwinter. In February they gathered in
immense flocks, and disappeared, no one could tell where, returning
about the middle of March as suddenly as they had gone away, remaining
a few weeks, then resorting to the mountains and open country to breed.
In 1867 they disappeared February 15 and returned April 1, leaving for
the mountains May 3. The following year they left February 10, returned
March 21, and left for the mountains April 28, going and coming in large
flocks. They begin to moult about the middle of April, the feathers of
the head, edges of wings, and upper tail-coverts, changing first. At
this time the capillaries in the skin of the abdomen become engorged
with serous fluid, and give to the bird a disgusting appearance. Mr.
Dall obtained eggs in an open tundra near the mouth of the Yukon in the
latter part of June. The female defended her nest bravely, and rather
than desert her eggs allowed herself to be torn to pieces by a dog.
Mr. Bannister was also struck with the strong attachment shown to each
other by both sexes during the breeding-season. He has known the male
bird to sacrifice his own life, rather than desert his wounded mate.
He mentions them as common at St. Michaels and the adjoining mainland
during the greater part of the year, but especially abundant in the
spring, when they are found singly or in pairs all over the country.
In the fall and winter they kept more to the thickets of willows. The
greater part of them were supposed to have gone into the wooded district
of the interior for better shelter and more abundant food.
The eggs of this species vary considerably in length and breadth; they
average about 1.85 inches in length and 1.20 in breadth, and are oval
in shape, one end a little less obtuse than the other. They are all
beautifully variegated and marked with bold confluent blotches of a
dark claret color, upon a ground of a deep cream tinged with a reddish
shading.
Lagopus mutus, var. rupestris, LEACH.