126 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



Skylark by its smaller size, short tail, white stripe over 

 the eye, and by the white spots at the end of the tail- 

 feathers. The food of this most interesting bird is 

 composed chiefly of insects and small seeds. Its nest 

 is built upon the ground, beneath some bush or tuft of 

 grass. The eggs are four or five in number, of a whitish 

 hue, streaked with dark brown. 



SNOW BUNTING. 



Plectrophanes nivalis ; Bruant de neige ; Schneeavimer. 

 Snowflake ; Tawny Bunting ; Mountain Bunting. 



Beak, yellow ; legs and claws, black ; head, neck, and 

 portion of the wings, white ; under-surface of the body, 

 white, tinged with reddish-brown ; tail, reddish-brown, 

 interspersed with white ; hind-claw, straight and long. 

 Length, under seven inches. 



The song bird of the Arctic regions is a winter visitor 

 to our shores, but both in England and in Ireland 

 decreases in numbers as we approach the south. It 

 usually arrives towards the end of October, and leaves 

 again for the north about the third week in March. In 

 the neighbourhood of Dublin its favourite resort for 

 many years has been the road leading to the Pigeon 

 House Fort. I have also seen it on the West Pier, 

 Kingstown, and at the North Wall Extension. 



The Snow Bunting does not breed in this country, nor 

 does it sing ; it is, notwithstanding, a most interesting 

 bird ; and there are few prettier sights than a flock of 

 Snow Buntings overhead uttering their wild and pleasant 



