loo THE SNOWFLAKE. 



earth tmvard heaven. I hehl ni_\- Ijreath and hstened to the mild Ijaljel of 

 tiit-iit-iit-tczcs. with which the Snow Buntings greeted nie. Tlie l)irds were 

 loatli to leave the place, and hovered indecisively while the l)ird-man devoured 

 them \\-ith his eyes. As they moved off slowly, each hird seemed alternately 

 to fall and struggle upward thru an arc of five or six feet, indepenilently of 

 his fellows, so that the flock as a whole produced quite the effect of a trouhled 

 snowstorm. 



Snowflakes flock indifferently in winter and may occur in nunihers up 

 to several hundred. At other times a single, thrilling, vibrant call-note, tczv 

 or ie-cw, may be heard during the falling of the real flakes, while the 

 wandering mystery passes overhead, unseen. Stray birds not infrecpiently 

 mingle with flocking Horned Larks; while Snowflakes and Lapland Long- 

 spurs are fast friends in the regions where the latter are commtjn. 



Probal;)ly these birds are of regular tho sparing occurrence in the Big 

 Bend and Palouse countries, but they do not often reach the southern border 

 of the State; and their appearance on Puget Sound, as upon the prairies of 

 Pierce County, is quite unusual. While with us they move aimlessly from 

 field tO' field in open situations, or glean the weed-seed, which forms their 

 almost exclusive diet. Li time of storm, or when emboldened by the con- 

 tinuance of winter, they may make their appearance in the barnyard, or about 

 the outl)uildings, where their sprightly notes and innocent airs are sure to 

 make them welcome. 



It is difficult tO' conceive how these birds may withstand the frightful 

 temperatures tO' which they are subjected in a winter upon the Saskatchewan 

 plains, and yet they endure this by preference to the eft'eminizing influences 

 which are believed to prevail south O'f "Forty-nine," and especially west of 

 the Rockies. Close-knit feathers, the warmest covering known, fortified by 

 layers of fat, render them quite impervious tO' cold; and as for the raging 

 blizzard, the birds have only to sit quietly under the snow and wait till the 

 blast has blown itself out. 



The sun alone prevails, as in the case of the man with the cloak, and 

 at the first hint of the sun's return tO' power, these ice-children hasten back 

 to find their cliill)' cradles. A few nest upon the Aleutian Islands, and along 

 the shores of northern Alaska ; but more of them resort tO' those ice-wrapped 

 islands of the far North, which are mere names tO' the geographer and dismal 

 memories to a few hardv whalers. Peary's men found them, breeding in 

 Melville Land ; and if there is a North Pole, be assured that some Snowflake 

 is nestling contentedly at the base of it. 



