90 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Snow -Bunting. Plectrophenax nivalis (Linn.). 



In England, Wales and Ireland the Snow-Bunting (Plate 39) 

 is known only as a winter visitor or bird of passage, but on the 

 higher Scottish mountains it nests annually, and has been 

 recorded as breeding in the Shetlands. Its range extends far 

 north in both hemispheres, and it winters so far south as 

 northern Africa and the United States, and is a nomadic 

 wanderer at this season. 



Along the shore or on the fells in winter there are few more 

 charming sights than a flock of " Snowflakes " as they are 

 aptly called. We need not expect to meet with them in low- 

 lying inland localities ; these they seldom visit, clinging either 

 to the coast-line or seeking the higher uplands. Suddenly the 

 birds rise from the tide-wrack, flickering white, wheel and drift 

 down-wind, dancing before us, but soon returning to their hunt. 

 When clouds hang low on the fells the twitter is heard before 

 the fluttering flakes emerge from the mist ; they drop on the 

 short sheep-cropped grass, littered with broken scree, and 

 vanish amongst the stones, some sheltering, as if in hiding, 

 behind the rocky debris. Small patches of old snow or freshly 

 falling flakes aid this concealment. Yet the bird is not shy, 

 and on the shore is almost indifferent ; the shore-shooter finds 

 them easy to slaughter and, unfortunately, kills them for the 

 pot, for they are plump in winter. In flight the sharply con- 

 trasted black and white of the wing renders them conspicuous, 

 and in breeding plumage the white and black dress of the male 

 makes him one of the most noticeable of small birds, though 

 even he may be hidden by the presence of snow amidst dark 

 rocks. In winter dress, tawny above and white beneath, the 

 bird when seen upon the shore may be at first mistaken for 

 a small wader, an error enhanced by its habit of running and 

 seldom hopping. In Britain we do not meet with the bird 



