SNOW-BUNTING. 9I 



except in treeless country, but in some parts of its range it 

 perches like other buntings. When a winter gale sweeps the 

 shore the birds crouch as they feed, and if disturbed hardly 

 rise above the sand, along which they are whirled for yards, 

 but soon settle again. 



The flight note is a Linnet-like twitter ; in some parts they 

 are known as " Sea-Linnets " ; this twitter is interrupted by a 

 frequent call-note, a loud "tweet." The song, often uttered 

 from the heaped-up rocks in which the nest is hidden, is 

 described as a "low, melodious warble," but to my ears it has 

 much of the indecision of the Reed-Bunting, though fuller and 

 mellower ; it does not sound low. The male will often shoot 

 into the air like a Tree- Pipit, descending in sweeping curves 

 and singing all the time ; if, however, he fears that the nest is 

 endangered he flies round with plaintive alarm cries and settles, 

 piping anxiously, within a few feet of the intruder. Gnats and 

 other flies are the food in summer, but in winter various seeds 

 and grain are eaten, those of grasses and salt-marsh plants, 

 such as Siiceda and sea-aster being favoured. 



The nest is difficult to find. Its usual site is among dis- 

 integrating rocks and boulders, and is deeply hidden in some 

 crack or under a stone too heavy to move. I have had both 

 birds in a state of great perturbation within a few yards of the 

 invisible nest, though I could guess to a foot its situation. In 

 Norway I found the hen sitting at 5500 feet, but Seebohm 

 took nests in Siberia at sea-level. Any handy material is used, 

 dry grass, moss, roots, with a lining of hair and feathers, those 

 of its constant companion the Ptarmigan being frequently 

 recognised. .Seebohm found seven or eight eggs in Arctic 

 nests, but in Scotland four or five is more usual ; they vary 

 considerably, but the one figured (Plate 41) is an ordinary type. 



In breeding dress the male is a handsome white and black 

 bird, the black being on the mantle, secondaries, primaries 

 and tail. His bill and legs are black, and the irides hazel. 



