White-tailed ptarmigan wings, square-ended tail, small black beak and short legs with feathering extending to the toes. Adults are long, with the males being only slightly larger than the females. The average weight is . During the summer, the white-tailed ptarmigan is a speckled grayish brown with white underparts, tail and wings. In the fall, the plumage has turned a much more reddish-brown color and white feathers begin to grow through. By winter all the summer brown feathers are lost and the bird is completely white. A further molt in the spring precedes the breeding season and the bird returns to its
Ptarmigan (sternwheeler) "Gian" was at least theoretically faster than "Ptarmigan" made several challenges to Armstrong to race. There is a story that one day in late August 1906 Cantlie was out in his launch in the river at the same time as "Ptarmigan". Cantle seized the moment and sped past "Ptarmigan" with his bagpiper blasting out airs as "Gian" sped past. This was too much for Captain Armstrong, a master steamboat man and veteran of the Klondike Gold Rush. Armstrong ordered full steam ahead, and when "Ptarmigan" caught up to "Gian", two or three roustabouts reached over to "Gian", seized the still-playing