810 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



hanging on the alder bushes by the l)anks uf creeks and gullies. 

 They are extremely restless, and in certain districts the twittering, 

 sound of their voices fills the air for days together, till they rise 

 and pass away like a cloud of smoke, perhaps to be seen no more 

 for the season. They are said to have been found nesting in New 

 York State, and also in Massachusetts, but at present I have no- 

 record of their being found so engaged in Ontai-io. As the country 

 becomes more explored, we shall have many such items to add to. 

 our present stock of knowledge of the birds. 



Genus PLECTROPHENAX Stejneger. 

 PLECTROPHENAX NIVALIS (Linn.). 



■1-1-2. Snowflake. (r).U) 



Bill, small, truly conic, rutted at base ; liind claw, dcciiledly curved. In 

 breeduig plumage pui'e white, the back, wings and tail variegated with black : 

 bill and feet, black. As generally seen in Ontai-io, the white is clouded with 

 warm, clear brown, and the bill is brownish. Lengtli. about 7 ; wing, 4i : 

 tail, 2f . 



H.\B. — Xortheni parts of the nortlieiii heniisj)iieie, breeding in the Arctic 

 Regions, in North America south in winter into the Northern United States, 

 irregularly to (ieorgia, southern Illinois and Kansas. 



Nest, on the ground, composed of grass and moss, lined with feathers, 

 concealed by a tuft of grass or projecting ledge of rock, cavity deep, sides warm 

 and thick. 



Eggs, four, pale greunisii-\\ lute, .scrawled and spotted w itii brown and lilac. 



The Snowbirds are oui- most i-egulai' visitors from the north, and 

 they come in greater numbers than any of the other species which 

 descend from high latitudes to avoid the i-igors of winter. As early 

 as the 'JOth of October, tlieir tinkling, icy notes may be heard, but 

 more frequently the birds are first ob.ser\'ed later in the season, 

 driving with wild eccentric flight before the earliest flurry of snow. 

 By the shores of the lakes, on bare .sandy spots, thinly grown over 

 with the Andropngon sco])armK, on the seeds of which they freely 

 feed, they may be found with tolerable certainty any tijne between 

 the end of October and the first of April. Elsewhere throughout 

 the country, they are frecjuently seen by the roadsides, examining the 

 tall weeds which appear in waste places alxtve the snow, or runiung 

 in the road tracks searching hurriedly for theii- scanty fare. They 



