260 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



In the Aleutians, the snow bunting is found from the shore- 

 line to the high mountains, but it seems to prefer the mountains. 



The nest of the snow bunting may be placed among lava rocks, 

 in crevices or cliffs, or under a ledge of a rock on fairly level 

 terrain. On June 4, 1937, Douglas Gray found a nest with three 

 eggs under an overhanging rock on Kiska Island. 



On June 12, 1937, on Agattu Island, I found two nests. One 

 was in the form of a deep grassy cup, with a few feathers worked 

 in, placed under a ledge of a flat rock on fairly level ground. It 

 contained four eggs. 



The other nest was located under an overhanging boulder, and 

 it had feathers of a forked-tailed petrel woven into the structure. 

 This nest also contained four eggs. 



On June 14, also on Agattu Island, a similar nest made of grass 

 was found in a hollow under a flat rock. There were four eggs. 



According to the Attu chief, the snow bunting is a permanent 

 resident in the Near Islands. 



Plectrophenax hyperboreus: McKay's Bunting 



This species nests only on Hall and St. Matthew Islands, but it 

 occurs in migration in the Aleutian district. Nelson (1887) de- 

 scribes a bird of this species taken at Unalaska in January, and 

 several specimens were taken at Nushagak Bay by McKay and 

 Johnson. Without doubt, this bird is quite common on Alaska 

 Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands in winter. 



Emberiia rusfica: Rustic Bunting 

 Emberiia rusfica latifascia 



The only record of this species for North America is a small 

 series of skins obtained on Kiska Island in June 1911 by Wetmore 

 and F. B. McKechnie. On June 17, Wetmore found a dead bird, 

 which was estimated to have been dead about a month, and an- 

 other dead bird was found by McKechnie. In his field notes, 

 Wetmore says further — 



On June 19, while making the rounds of my traps, I flushed a small bird 

 that flew up with a faint tsip, and dove immediately into the grass along a 

 creek. The flight was quick and with an up and down motion, and the bird 

 showed two white outer tail feathers. I flushed it again after some tramping, 

 and shot it on the wing, and found it a fine specimen of the bird found on 

 the seventeenth. A hundred yards further I flushed another on a grassy 

 slope, and missed it the first time. When it got up again I shot it, but the 

 wind carried it so that I was not able to find it, though I searched carefully. 

 No others could be found. The one taken was a female, in fine plumage, but 

 exceedingly fat. 



