SNOW-BUNTING. 183 



I am acquainted witli no more pleasing combination of 

 sight and sound than that afforded when a number of 

 these birds, backed by a dark grey sky, drop as it were 

 in a shower to the ground, to the music of their 

 own sweet tinkling notes." Mr. W. E. Cater, in the 

 *' Zoologist" (2415), mentions having met with a flock of 

 five, at Waxham, near Yarmouth, in 1848, as early as 

 the 27th of September; and in 1854, on exactly the 

 same date, a pair were sent me from Blakeney, where 

 Mr. Dowell has also met with them on one or two occa- 

 sions in the beginning of that month. At the time, 

 however, when my own specimens were taken, the 

 weather was extremely mild. I have never known them 

 to remain with us later than the beginning of April. 

 In confinement, I have found the snow-buntings very 

 gentle in disposition and extremely affectionate to one 

 another, forming an amiable contrast in both respects 

 to the bramling finches. A pair, which were kindly 

 sent me for my aviary in 1862, by Mr. Fowler, of 

 Gunton, near Lowestoft, netted from a very large num- 

 ber at that time frequenting the Corton beach, attained 

 very nearly their full summer plumage, their beaks 

 also, which are yellow in winter, assuming a dark 

 leaden tint. Both these birds, unfortunately, suffered 

 from a diseased state of the feet, which were painfully 

 swollen, and the scutellse on the anterior portion of the 

 tarsi and toes were greatly enlarged and ragged. With 

 this exception, they Hved in apparently good health till 

 the autumn of 1863, when the female wasted away and 

 died, and the male survived his partner only a few 

 weeks. According to Messrs. Gurney and Fisher, this 

 species has been known to nest in confinement, but 

 where, or when this event happened, is not stated. 



