SNOWFLAKE. 461 



with reddish ; the black feathers of the upper parts edged with 

 reddish-ichite. Young male and female in idnter, with the head 

 dark reddish-brown, the upper parts yellowish-brown spotted with 

 brownish-black, the lower parts dull white, the fore-neck, breast, 

 and sides tinged icith reddish-brown, the male with the small wing- 

 coverts reddish- white, while in the female they are dusky. 



Male. — The Snowflake is a neat and lively little bird, readily 

 distinguished by its peculiar colouring, in which white is very 

 conspicuous, conjoined with its gregarious habits, and its ap- 

 pearance along the coast during the cold season. It is about 

 the size of the Yellow Bunting, and nearly of the same form, 

 the body compact, the head of ordinary size, the wings rather 

 long. The tarsi are short, compressed, with seven scutella ; 

 the first toe, which, including the claw, is scarcely shorter than 

 the third, has seven, the second eight, the third ten, the fourth 

 nine scutella. The claws are slightly arched, compressed, very 

 acute, with deep lateral grooves at the base only. 



The upper mandible within has the edges projecting more 

 than in any of the Buntings, but is still very narrow, and hav- 

 ing a central elongated hard prominence anterior to the de- 

 flection of the palate. The lower mandible is deeply concave 

 and narrowed by the inflexion of its edges. The oesophagus, 

 which is dilated on the middle of the neck, is two and a half 

 inches long ; the stomach nine twelfths in its greatest diame- 

 ter ; the intestine eight inches in length ; the coeca a twelfth 

 and a half; the rectum one inch. 



The plumage is soft and blended, the feathers ovato-lanceo- 

 late, with loose margins ; those at the base of the bill are ter- 

 minated by short bristles. The wings are rather long and 

 straight, the first quill longest, the second scarcely shorter, the 

 other primaries graduated, all more or less rounded ; the se- 

 condaries, excepting the inner three, emarginate. The tail of 

 moderate length, and deeply emarginate. 



The bill is deep yellow, its tip brownish ; the irides brown ; 

 the feet black. The upper part of the head, space below the 

 eye, and a gorget on the lower part of the neck, are bright 

 chestnut mixed with white, the latter colour predominating 



