White-tailed ptarmigan The species name "leucura" was for a long time misspelt "leucurus", in the erroneous belief that the ending of "Lagopus" denotes masculine gender. However, as the Ancient Greek term "λαγωπους" is of feminine gender, and the species name has to agree with that, the feminine "leucura" is correct. The species name "leucura" is derived from the Latinized version of the Greek "leukos", meaning "white" and "oura", meaning "tail", in reference to the bird's permanently white tail. The white-tailed ptarmigan is the smallest of the ptarmigans and the smallest bird in the grouse family. It is a stocky bird with rounded
Ptarmigan (sternwheeler) Ptarmigan (sternwheeler) Ptarmigan was a sternwheel steamboat that operated in British Columbia on the Columbia River from 1903 to 1909. "Ptarmigan" was built at Golden, BC and was the last vessel built for the Upper Columbia Navig. & Tramway Co., of which Capt. Frank P. Armstrong was the principal owner and manager. "Ptarmigan"'s engines were over 60 years old, and had been originally built for a ferry crossing the St. Lawrence River. The engines had been previously installed in two other sternwheelers on the upper Columbia River, specifically the first "Duchess", and the second "Duchess". The blunt-ended bow of "Ptarmigan"