SNOWFLAKE. 303 



has penetrated to the coast of the Polar Sea. At this period it 

 feeds upon the buds of the purple saxifrage {Saxifraga opposi- 

 tifolia) , one of the most early of the Arctic plants. 



As the Snow Bunting sometimes begins to visit the United 

 States in October, it appears pretty certain that some of these 

 birds breed almost, if not quite, within the northern limits of 

 the Union ; and as stated elsewhere, a nest has been found 

 near the rocky summit of the White Mountains of New 

 Hampshire. 



The Snow Bunting is usually restricted in summer to the higher 

 latitudes, — from Labrador and the Great Slave Lake region to the 

 Arctic Ocean, — but an occasional flock is seen farther southward, 

 and nests have been taken in the White Mountains. In winter 

 these birds range south to the Middle States, occasionally going as 

 far as " Georgia and Kansas." Numbers spend the winter in New 

 Brunswick, gathering in flocks of twenty to fifty. They are to be 

 seen about the suburbs of St. John as well as on the margins of 

 lakes in the deep forests. 



Mr. A. Hagerup, who saw considerable of this bird when in 

 Greenland, writes to me that the song is a sweet and pleasing 

 melody, though rather disconnected, " delivered in short stanzas." 

 " Warbling," he adds, " is perhaps the English word best suited to 

 describe its character." 



