310 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



hanging on the alder bushes by the banks of creeks and gullies. 

 They are extremely restless, and in certain districts the twittering- 

 sound of their voices fills the air for days together, till they rise 

 and pass away like a cloud of smoke, perhaps to be seen no more 

 for the season. They are said to have been found nesting in New 

 York State, and also in Massachusetts, but at present I have no 

 record of their being found so engaged in Ontario. As the country 

 becomes more explored, we shall have many such items to add to 

 our present stock of knowledge of the birds. 



Genus PLECTROPHENAX Stejneger. 

 PLECTROPHENAX NIVALIS (Linn.). 



222. Snowflake. (534) 



Bill, small, truly conic, rafted at base ; hind claw, decidedly curved. In 

 breeding plumage pure white, the back, wings and tail vai'iegated with Itlack ; 

 bill and feet, black. As generally seen in Ontario, the white is clouded with 

 warm, clear brown, and the bill is brownish. Length, about 7 ; wing, ih ; 

 tail, 2f . 



Hab. — Northern parts of the northern hemisphere, breeding in the Arctic 

 Regions, in North America south in winter into the Northern United States, 

 irregularly to Geoi'gia, southern Illinois and Kansas. 



Nest, on the ground, composed of grass and moss, lined with feathers, 

 concealed by a tuft of grass or projecting ledge of rock, cavity deep, sides warm 

 and thick. 



Eggs, foui', pale greenish-white, scrawled and spotted with l)r()wn and lilac. 



The Snowbirds are our most regular visitors from the north, and 

 they come in greater numbers than any of the other species which 

 descend from high latitudes to avoid the rigors of winter. As early 

 as the 20th of October, their tinkling, icy notes may be heard, but 

 more frequently the birds are first observed later in the season, 

 driving with wild eccentric flight before the earliest flurry of snow. 

 By the shores of the lakes, on bare sandy spots, thinly grown over 

 with the Andropogon scoparius, on the seeds of which they freely 

 feed, they may be found with tolerable certainty any time between 

 the end of October and the first of April. Elsewhere throughout 

 the country, they are frequently seen by the roadsides, examining the 

 tall weeds which appear in waste places above the snow, or running 

 in the road tracks searching hurriedly for their scanty fare. They 



