210 Transactions of the [Sess. 



Unlike mankind, tlie blinding snow-drift has apparently no terrors 

 for them ; and at those dismal moments when the bewildered 

 traveller curses his ill-luck, and heartily wishes he had never left 

 the safety of his cheery fireside, the Snow-Bunting seems happier 

 and more lively than at any other timQ, A favourite resort after 

 a storm is one of those upland crofts which can boast of a stack 

 or two of corn ; and in such spots they may be seen alighting in a 

 flock, sometimes on the stacks, or on the ground close by, often 

 clinging to the sides of the former after the manner of Sparrows, and 

 no doubt doing their best to diminish the already too scanty stock 

 of the crofter by swallowing his grain. On the average, however, 

 they do not consume so much of the latter commodity as do the 

 other Buntings, grass-seeds forming their chief food— oats and 

 suchlike being only resorted to as a special x>iece de resistance 

 when their usual viand fails them. The plumage to which we in 

 Scotland are most accustomed is of a reddish-brown chestnut 

 colour in the upper parts, beautifully diversified by darker feathers, 

 while the under portions are chiefly white, with a brownish band 

 across the chest, much more marked in the male than in the 

 female. The tail and wings, the latter rather long and pointed, 

 are composed of pure white and dark-brown feathers, almost black 

 in some cases, the former showing to most advantage during flight, 

 or when the bird first alights. 



A great deal might be written concerning this species. Its 

 beauty of plumage ; its welcome arrival at a season when bird-life 

 is, in comparison with summer, almost nil ; its friendly and harm- 

 less nature, — all these might be enlarged upon with advantage : 

 but as time would not permit of that, allow me to conclude with 

 the remark, that should any one, possessing the requisite amount 

 of interest in ornithology, ever have the chance of visiting the 

 Snowflake in its happy hunting-grounds, let me adjure him to 

 permit no preconceived ideas of cold, danger, or physical exertion 

 to interfere with that opportunity, as the pleasure derived from a 

 near prospect of the birds will be ample recompence for any dis- 

 comfort experienced while in their quest. 



(Stuffed specimens were exhibited of the four Buuting.s above described. ) 



