I haven't thought of Dennis as a resident skeptic but, rather, as a
resident field guide. He wrote, for instance:

> Mary, if you saw white spots superimposed *on* the tail, rather than at its
> very tip, you were seeing a Spruce Grouse. Take a look at the "Franklin's
> Grouse" in the NGS field guide. Is that what you mean? No other grouse
> has white spots *on* the tail, and a ptarmigan would have either entirely
> white tail or entirely black tail with very narrow white tips to the
> feathers (again, scarcely visible).

I save messages like that because they point out the key features to look
for. The same message went on to say:

> I don't recall if you told us what habitat these birds were in. If they
> were ptarmigan, they would have been way out in the open in the alpine
> zone. If Spruce Grouse, they would have been associated with forest, even
> if at its edge. I don't think Spruce Grouse ever go well away from forest,
> but I don't know for sure about that.

That's valuable information to file away, even with the uncertainty. So,
Dennis, I hope you'll continue to share your extensive knowledge with us,
even if--as others have said--we all need to be skeptics.

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794

Reunite Gondwanaland!