500 EMBERIZID^E. 



of September, 1817, on which day it is recorded that on 

 the ridge between Maodal and Ronaval I saw a Snow 

 Bunting ; and in returning along the shore by the low 

 hills of Drimafuind saw another." In another place, dated 

 Luachar, in Harris, I find the following statement : " The 

 Snow Bunting is frequently met on the hills in small flocks. 

 I am told they are never seen in summer, nor have I ever 

 met with them there beyond the end of April ; yet the 

 little flocks which I have often observed, were apparently 

 family groups ; nor do these birds appear in large congre- 

 gations, such as we often see along the shores of Scotland 

 or England. On the 4th of August, 1830, being on the 

 summit of Ben-na-muic-dui, the highest mountain in Scot- 

 land, I observed a beautiful male flitting about in the neigh- 

 bourhood of a great patch of snow ; it was also seen by 

 Dr. Greville at the same time. Some days after, having 

 descended from the top of Lochnagar, to its corry, along 

 with Dr. Martin Barry, in quest of plants, I met with a 

 flock of eight individuals, flying about among the blocks 

 of granite. They were evidently a family, the male and 

 female being easily distinguished from the young. It is 

 therefore very probable that the Snowflake breeds on the 

 higher Grampians : and perhaps in considerable numbers, 

 although it is not likely that the vast flocks seen in the 

 lower grounds in winter are exclusively of Scottish origin." 

 I may further add here, that Colonel Thornton, in his 

 Sporting Tour in the Highlands of Scotland, says, " Snow- 

 flakes were seen upon the summit of a Ptarmigan mountain, 

 August 29." Mr. Selby says, that " these birds generally 

 arrive in the upland or mountainous districts about the 

 middle or latter part of October in large flocks, which 

 seem chiefly to consist of the young of the year, or Moun- 

 tain Buntings, and of females, or young males, the Tawny 

 Buntings, with a few adult males intermixed ; which, at 



