SNOW BUNTING 1661 



Young. — Though one or two observers have reported seeing males 

 on the nest, most are agreed that incubation is entirely by the female. 

 The males feed their mates frequently during egg laying and incuba- 

 tion, and are conspicuous in carrying food. On and off the nest the 

 females will beg for food by calling and fluttering their wings just as 

 the young do later. The females also feed themselves; Watson noted 

 one that left the nest regularly to feed for an hour in mid-afternoon. 



Opinions differ as to when incubation starts. Tinbergen states 

 that in southeast Greenland it "begins from one to three days after 

 completion of the clutch." Watson reports that in eastern Baffin 

 Island: "At nearly every closely watched nest the female began to 

 sit from the time the first egg was laid. The sole exception was at 

 one sheltered nest where incubation did not start till the third egg 

 was laid, though the nights were cold and frosty and light snowfalls 

 frequent." Our experiences in both Baffin and Ellesmere islands 

 showed incubation usually started with the laying of the third or 

 fourth egg. 



The incubation period, that is the interval between the laying and 

 the hatching of the last egg, varies from 10 to 15.5 days, apparently 

 dependent on the attentiveness and effectiveness of the female in 

 her duties. Witherby et al. note it recorded as 10 to 12 days by 

 Ekblaw, 12 to 13 days by Thompson, and 14 to 15 days by Sutton. 

 One we timed at Baffin and one at Ellesmere each fell somewhere 

 between 12 and 13 days. All these variations are close to or within 

 the range W T atson gives as 10.25-10.5 to 14.5-15.5 days. The 

 21-to-22-day incubation period Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959) report 

 for Alaska is confusing, and probably measured from the laying of the 

 first to hatching of the last egg. 



Regarding hatching, Watson comments: "At most nests the habit 

 of incubating the eggs during the laying period resulted in a marked 

 spread in hatching. For example, a clutch of four produced three 

 young in over 4 and probably 5 days; other periods, for clutches of 

 5 and 7 eggs from which 5 and 6 hatched, were 3-4 days and at least 

 4% days." The greatest spread undoubtedly results when incubation 

 of a large clutch starts with the first egg and all the eggs hatch. 



Newly hatched bunting are thinly covered with down and quite 

 helpless. When touched they open their mouths wide but produce 

 no audible sound. When 2 days old they make faint food cries 

 which gradually become louder as the birds develop. Tinbergen 

 writes: "While the young were being fed, they uttered a long, high 

 note, which became louder as they grew older, and which called 

 attention to the nests from a great distance." Nicholson (1930) 

 says "The loud metallic chittering of nestlings carried quite 150 yards." 



