1672 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part 3 



winter. But with the coming of the snows these hardy species 

 disappear just as definitely as do the familiar birds of the Eastern 

 United States, when September frosts begin to be sharp * * V 



At the high latitude of Ellesmere Island, most buntings leave for 

 the south by the middle of September. Prior to migration, mixed 

 flocks of buntings of both sexes and all ages may gradually combine 

 to form the enormous numbers sometimes seen along the coasts in 

 fall. A single flock seldom numbers more than a hundred birds, 

 usually much less, but occasionally upward of a thousand or more 

 buntings will form a more or less loose flock. These great hordes 

 may linger for some days, the flocks constantly breaking up into 

 smaller ones and then regrouping. 



On the other hand, Sutton (1932) notes that at Southampton 

 Island "Premigratory flocks are not usually formed until the very eve 

 of departure for the south. Family-flocks are to be seen during most 

 of the fall. Buntings linger throughout October, and even until 

 November, though most of them depart by the last of September." 

 Salomonsen reports that the majority migrate from Greenland from 

 late September to mid-October. 



A few buntings may remain at or near the breeding areas after the 

 main body has left. Late departure dates even at high latitudes may 

 extend well into October or later. Personnel at the Alert Weather 

 Station at 83° N. on the north coast of Ellesmere Island told me of 

 seeing two buntings there November 27, feeding on spilled oats. The 

 birds flew off into total darkness beyond the station lights and were 

 not seen again. C. G. and E. G. Bird (1941) report from MacKenzie 

 Bay in northeast Greenland "still a few around the station on 10 

 December." Salomonsen notes that "The greater part of the Snow- 

 Buntings leave Greenland in the autumn, but a small minority stay 

 in winter in the southern parts of the country. Wintering specimens 

 have been recorded in all parts of the low-arctic region." 



On the more southerly wintering grounds the flocks may vary from 

 a few to hundreds, sometimes thousands of individuals. Alexander 

 DuBois wrote Taber in a letter of a flock of 400 near Ithaca, N.Y. 

 Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959), T. S. Roberts (1932) and others have 

 commented on species' varying in abundance from year to year; 

 regions where they winter commonly one year may find them scarce 

 or wholly absent the next. 



Though there is no territorial fighting in winter, aggressive indi- 

 viduals in the flocks often fight in much the same manner, usually 

 over food. These fights are motivated by the establishment of 

 peck-order and apparently have no sexual connotation. 



