THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 
in quest of food, but does not refrain from perching in 
trees, as some writers have suggested. "The nest is made 
in a crevice of rocks, and well concealed. It is more com- 
pactly made than that of most Buntings, formed externally 
of dry grass, roots, and scraps of moss, and lined with 
finer roots, hair, wool, and feathers. ‘The five or six eggs, 
sometimes one or two more, are greyish white or very pale 
blue in ground colour, spotted and blotched—less fre- 
quently pencilled—with reddish brown. But one brood 
is reared in the year. 
In breeding plumage the adult male Snow Bunting is 
mostly black and white ; but in autumn and winter, when 
it visits us, most of this is concealed by the long fringes 
of rufous brown that gradually wear away before the 
summer. ‘Then the head, the wing-coverts, the bases of 
the primaries, the outer tail-feathers, and the whole of 
the under parts are white, the remaining plumage black. 
Bill black; tarsi and toes black; irides brown. Length 
7 inches. ‘The female is not so brilliant in coloration, 
and is more mottled with brown, even in summer. ‘The 
nestling has all the smaller feathers greyish brown, with 
dark centres, except the under tail-coverts and abdomen. 
