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 Photographing Ptarmigan 173 necessity here, for the snow was three to five feet deep and there were no roads or trails. The birds appeared to be feeding on the willow buds. Judging from the tracks we saw, they must be much harassed by coyotes, for we observed the latter's tracks running in every direction from one willow clump to another, as if beating the ground for game. In May, igoo, I was camped on the south slope of Mt. Emmons, working a mining claim. The snow still lay on the higher slopes, but in the morning would be hard so that one could easily walk on it. One morning I walked up toward the summit, near where I secured the winter plumage pictures, and found one bird, in the changing plumage. Its head and neck were thickly spotted with black and brown, while there were numerous brown feathers in the back. Below it was still white. As usual, it was tame and I could observe it closely. Where I found it the ground was partly bare and partly covered with snow On the bare spots it found grass and was nipping off the heads of this, and also would pick industriously at times into bunches of moss, getting the seeds from them. On July II, I had my greatest piece of luck. I had gone out to look for Ptarmigan, hoping to find a nest with eggs, and was coming back along the crest of a ridge when I saw a little chick running a few feet in front of me, and, looking down, I saw the old bird and more chicks almost beside me. There were five young altogether, apparently only a few days old, as they were downy, and the quills in the wings were only just beginning to show. With this family I had a most interesting time. It was no trouble to get pictures of the old bird, for she would stand still and allow me to put the camera down on the ground two or three feet away, use the focusing cloth and focus, then change the shutter from time to instantaneous exposures, put in the plate-holder and make the expos- ures. I secured pictures of her thus when she was covering her whole family, for whenever she stopped the chicks would nestle beneath her, Copyrigh/. by E. R. Warren ADULT FEMALE PTARMIGAN IN SUMMER PLUMAGE