48 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRIllSH BIRDS. 



Diagnostic characters : The deeply-tinted ground 

 colour and remarkably small size of the eggs of the 

 Lesser Redpole readily distinguish them from those of 

 any other species breeding in our islands. 



Family FRTNGILLID^. Genus Plectrophenax. 



Sub-family EMBERIZIN.^. 



SNOW BUNTING. 



Plectrophenax nivalis {Li?inai/s). 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, June and early July. 



British breeding area : The Snow Bunting is a 

 very local bird with us during the breeding season, 

 and its nest has only been taken on few occasions in 

 our islands. This may be to a great extent because 

 the high mountain summits in some of the wildest 

 parts of Scotland are rarely visited by naturalists. On 

 the British mainland nests of the Snow Bunting have 

 within comparatively recent years been discovered in 

 Sutherlandshire ; the bird has also long been known to 

 breed on the Shetlands, notably in Unst and Yell. 



Breeding habits : In our islands the summer 

 haunts of the Snow Bunting are amongst the wild 

 rugged scenery of the north, either on the bare and 

 rocky mountain sides and summits, or along the rough 

 beaches of the sea, where drift-wood, loose stones, and 

 rock fragments furnish shelter for the nest. It is not 

 known whether the Snow Bunting pairs for life or 

 forms a union each recurring spring, but probably the 

 latter is the case. The nest is placed under loose 



