White-tailed ptarmigan and development of the chicks. This suggests that the hens' food calls assist in enhancing survival rates of juvenile ptarmigans. The young birds remain with their mother throughout the summer and autumn season. The white-tailed ptarmigan is well-camouflaged when on the ground. In his pioneering 1909 book on the subject, "Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom", the American artist Abbott Thayer wrote: The white-tailed ptarmigan has feathers located on its feet to serve as protection from the extreme cold often experienced in the alpine tundra environment. In addition, these birds have feathers around their nostrils to warm the air prior to
Ptarmigan (sternwheeler) allowed the vessel to be more capable of pushing barges, which increased the vessel's utility and effective cargo capacity. "Ptarmigan" was placed on the Columbia River route that began at Golden and ran south, at least during high water, to Columbia Lake, the ultimate source of the Columbia River. In 1903, soon after completion, "Ptarmigan" was sold to the Columbia River Lumber Company, which hired Armstrong to manage its steamboat operations. In 1907 "Ptarmigan" hit a snag and sank (A snag is a sunken log jammed in the river bottom but sticking up through the water to just below the