240 BIROS OF ILLINOIS. 



The two knowTi species of this genus nre essentially boreal, one of 

 them, so far as knowi, being eonfined to the vieinity of Bering 

 Sea, while the other is quite circumpolar. They are ground birds, 

 collecting in large flocks, in autumn and winter, on tundra and 

 plains, one of the species passing far to the southward. The re- 

 cently discovered P. hyperhorens* is distinguished by its much whiter 

 coloration, only the tips of the quill-feathers and small spots near 

 the end of the middle tail-feathers being black in the adult male. 



Plectrophenax nivalis (Linn.) 



SNOWFLAKE. 



Popular 8ynonym«. W'hltc Snowbird; Snow Bunting. 



Kinheriia nn-nlif LiNX. S. N. cd. 10. i. 1758, 176; ud. 12. i, 1766 308.— WlL8. Am. Orn. iii,1811, 

 86, rl. 21,flg. 2.-NUTT. Man. i. 1832, 458. -AuD. Orn. Biog. ii. 18»1.515: \.V>6. |il. 189. 

 Pleclrophaiie.1 iiifalia MEYER.— AuD. Synop. 1839,99; B. Xm. lii. 1841. 55.pl. I55.-BAIBD, 

 B. N. Am. 1858, 432; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859. No. 325.— CouEs. Key, 1872. 133; Choek Ll8l, 

 1873, No. 152; 2<i ed. 1882, No. 219; B. X. W. 1S74. 118.-B. B. & R. Hist. N. Am. B. I, 1874. 

 612, pi. 24. fls- 2.— RiDow. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881. No. 186. 

 Plectrophenax tiiralis Stejn. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1882, 33. 

 Hab. Northern North America, south In winter, to northern United States (very 

 irregularly beyond 40°, but quoted from Georgia.Dlstrlct of Golumbia.Kentueky. Kansas, 

 etc.). Also found throughout the arctic and subarctic portions of the Old-World. 



"Sp. Chab. Male. Colors, in spring plumage, entirely black and white. Middle of 

 back between scapulars, termlnul half of primiiries and tertiuries.and two Innermost tail- 

 feathers, black; elsewliero pure white. Legs black at all seasons. In winter dress, white 

 beneath; the head and rump yellowish brown, us also some ulotehes on the sliie of the 

 breast; middle of back brown, streaked with blaek; white on wings and tail much more 

 restricted. Length about 6.75; wings, 4.35; tall. .S.t^; first auiU longest. Feniah: Spring, 

 continuous white beneath only; above entirely streaked. the feathers having blaekisli 

 centres and whitish edges; the bhick streaks predominate on the back and crown. 

 YouHg. Light gray above, with obsolete dusky streaks on the back; throat and jugulum 

 paler gray.— the li\tter with obsolete streaks; rest of lower parts dull white. Wirig- 

 eoverts, secondaries and tall-feuthers broadly edged with light ochraceous brown." 

 i/rift.X. Am. B.) 



Although the "Wliite Snowbird" or "Snowflake" is said to be an 

 abundant winter resident of the northern portion of the State, it is 

 so very rare in the more southern districts that the wTiter has seen 

 there but a single specimen, the locality Ix'ing Mount Carmel, and 

 the date forgotten, but sometime during the early part of 1864 or 

 18fi5. 



Mr. Nelson's notes on its occurrence in northeastern Illinois {Hull. 

 Essex Inst., Vol. VIIL, 1876, p. 105) are as follows: 



•See rroe. U. 8. Nat. Mus. vli,1884,«8. 



