1654 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 3 



due to a considerable extent to weather conditions at the last stage 

 of the migration route." The birds often arrived in southern Green- 

 land following stormy weather from the east. He adds: "The 

 arrival of new birds always occurred during the early morning, up to 

 about 6 or 7 A.M.; during the first three hours after midnight, flocks 

 were often observed that did not alight but passed on." 



MacDonald and I observed very much the same arrival pattern in 

 Ellesmere Island, and also noted some diurnal migration in mid- 

 afternoon. In Greenland according to Salomonsen: "The migration 

 covers more than one month and usually continues over the greater 

 part of May * * *. The first birds to arrive are always males, as 

 normal in many passeres. However, the sexual difference in migra- 

 tion is more pronounced in the Snow-Bunting than in any other bird. 

 The females do not arrive until 3-4 weeks after the males." At 

 S0°N. in Ellesmere we found the arrival period covered a span of at 

 least 46 days. We first noted a male on April 16, a female on May 21. 



Plumage characteristics show the first males to arrive are mostly 

 those more than one year old. Few in numbers at first, they flock 

 near the coast while their numbers gradually increase; some then 

 disperse to higher country inland. When the first females arrive 

 some weeks later, they are often accompanied by newly arriving 

 males, many returning for the first time. We found mixed flocks 

 common in Ellesmere at the end of the migration period in late May. 

 The birds in these mixed flocks did not appear to be mated on arrival. 



Arrival dates in the Canadian Archipelago correspond roughly to 

 those recorded for Greenland and other parts of the species' circum- 

 polar range, being generally later at higher latitudes. A few birds 

 occasionally reach low-arctic localities in February, but the first 

 usually appear in March. The snow buntings seldom reach the high 

 arctic before April, Greely's (1886) report of one in Hall Land beyond 

 81° N. on March 14th being a notable exception. MacDonald (1953) 

 recorded the species on the north coast of Ellesmere Island beyond 

 83° N. on April 27, and there are earlier April records for more south- 

 ern parts of Ellesmere and for high-arctic Greenland. Most 

 birds probably reach the northernmost breeding grounds in mid- 

 to late May. 



Territory. — The nesting habitat of the snow bunting is confined at 

 low latitudes to bare, stony mountain-tops, rarely below 3,500 feet in 

 Scotland according to Witherby et al. (1941). In its arctic home, 

 however, the species nests from sea level along the coasts to con- 

 siderable elevations inland. Salomonsen notes they are found higher 

 in the Greenland mountains than any other bird, having been observed 

 at 1,027 meters. On Baffin Island Watson recorded females at 1,050 

 meters, males at 1,800-2,000 meters. On B3dot Island Van Tyne and 



