SNOW-BUNTING. 129 
The nest was built in a heap of stones and rocks, and we had to remove 
a considerable quantity before we could see it. This seems to be their 
favourite site; but on the Yenesay, where there were no rocks, the nests 
were built amongst the piles of drift-wood near the shore. 'The nest is a 
bulky structure and adapted to the cavity in which it is placed, and is com- 
posed of dry grass, with occasionally a few roots or a little moss or even 
twigs of the dwarf birch and other alpine shrubs if the cavity is large ; 
the lining consists of feathers, hair, or down. 
The eggs of the Snow-Bunting are from five to eight in number ; six or 
seven is a usual clutch. They vary from yellowish white to pale bluish 
green in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with rich reddish brown and 
sometimes finely streaked with deep blackish brown; these rich surface- 
markings are intermingled with numerous and large underlying blotches 
and spots of pale reddish brown and pinkish grey. On some specimens 
most of the markings are underlying ones, and the surface-spots are very 
deep in colour. The spots are generally most numerous at the larger end 
of the egg, sometimes forming an irregular zone or often a semi-confluent 
mass. They vary from 1°05 to °82 inch in length, and from °67 to ‘6 inch 
in breadth. The eggs of the Snow-Bunting differ considerably in size 
and colour; they are, on an average, larger than those of the Lapland 
Bunting, and are readily distinguished from them by their much paler 
ground-colour. Certain eggs of the present species more closely resemble 
some varieties of those of the Corn- Bunting ; but they are never so heavily 
and richly marked, never so streaked, and the spots are always paler and 
redder. 
The Snow-Bunting does not generally appear on our eastern coasts until 
the beginning of October. Mr. Cordeaux has seen it as early as the middle 
of September; but it very often delays its appearance until the end of 
October. ‘The date seems to depend entirely on the state of the weather, 
and its arrival in some districts is regarded as the forerunner of a severe 
snowstorm. On some parts of the Lincolnshire coast there is a tradition 
that the early appearance of this bird is a sure sign of a long hard winter. 
The Snow-Bunting usually remains in this country until the end of March 
or early in April, ere it sets out on its northern journey. Except during the 
breeding-season it is a gregarious bird. Soon after their arrival, flocks of 
these little “ Snowflakes” may be seen on the low land near the coast, or 
on the beach itself, where they nestle very closely amongst the shingle, as if 
resting themselves after their long and perilous journey. Few sights are 
more interesting on a lowering day in November, when each moment you 
expect to see real instead of feathered “snowflakes” coursing through the 
air, than to watch the actions of a flock of these charming little Arctic 
strangers; they seem to bring some of the romance attaching to the 
northern regions with them, and have an interest that few other birds 
VOL. Il. K 
