_Tetrao_ (_Lagopus_) _leucurus_, SW. & RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 356,
pl. lxiii.—NUTT. Man. Orn. II, 1834, 612.—IB. I, (2d ed.,) 1840,
820.—DOUGL. Tr. Linn. Soc. XVI, 146. _Tetrao leucurus_, AUD. Orn.
Biog. V, 1839, 200, pl. ccccxviii. _Lagopus leucurus_, AUD. Syn.
1839.—IB. B. Am. V, 1842, 125, pl. cccii.—GRAY, Gen. III.—BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 637.—BON. Comp. List. 441, No. 291.—ELLIOT,
P. A. N. S. 1864.—IB. Monog. Tetraon. pl.—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V,
1867, 93.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 542.
SP. CHAR. _Male?_ _winter_ (4,578, Fort Halkett, Liard’s River).
Entirely pure white, including the tail. Wing, 6.70; tarsus, 1.00;
middle toe, 1.00; bill, .35 by .29.
_Summer._ Wings, tail, abdomen, crissum, and legs immaculate
snowy-white. Ground-color of rest of plumage grayish-white on head
and neck and ashy-buff on other portions, finely and rather sparsely
sprinkled with black,—more in form of ragged transverse bars anteriorly
and on sides. (♀, 16,002, Camp Skagitt, N. W. B., August 16; C. B.
Kennerly.)
HAB. Alpine summits of the Western mountains, from lat. 39° in the
Rocky Mountains north into British America, and west to the Cascades of
Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
HABITS. This species was first procured by Mr. Drummond, and described
by Swainson in the “Fauna Borealis.” Five specimens were taken on the
Rocky Mountains in the 54th parallel, and another, by Mr. MacPherson,
on the same chain, nine degrees farther north. They were said to have
all the habits of the other Ptarmigans, and to inhabit the snowy peaks
near the mouth of the Columbia, as well as the lofty ridges of the Rocky
Mountains.
We have but little reliable information in regard to the habits and
distribution of this species. It seems to be confined entirely to the
range of the Rocky Mountains, and to be found only among their highest
points, occurring at least as far to the south as Cochetope Pass, in
latitude 39°, and extending north to an undetermined extent. Specimens
were procured in 1858 by Captain R. B. Marcy, on his march from Fort
Bridger, in Utah, across the Rocky Mountains to Santa Fé. They were met
with near the summit of the mountains not far from Cochetope Pass.
Mr. Charles E. Aiken writes me that he has been informed that this bird
is common on Snowy Range, in Colorado Territory. He was informed by an
old miner, who claimed to have met with these birds breeding near the
top of the range in June, that their nest, composed of leaves and grass,
is placed on the ground among bushes on hillsides; that the eggs are
fourteen in number, of a light bluish-brown, marked and spotted with a
darker shade of brown.
Mr. J. A. Allen (Am. Nat., June, 1872) mentions finding, among the
snow-fields of the higher parts of the mountains of Colorado, this
Grouse as one of the essentially Arctic species that were not met with
below the region of snow. The Ptarmigans were quite common, and in the
winter descend into the timbered land, where a great number are killed
by the miners for food.
An egg, given to Mr. Allen as a genuine egg of this species, was taken
on Mount Lincoln, Colorado, by Mr. Arthur Meade. It is of an oblong-oval
shape, and measures, as well as its imperfect condition permitted its
length to be estimated, about 1.80 inches by 1.20 in breadth. Its ground
is a deep ochraceous cream-color, marked with small rounded spots of a
deep chestnut. These are pretty uniformly sprinkled over the surface.
Except in size, it bears a close resemblance to the eggs of the European
_Tetrao urogallus_.