FltlNdlLLIIhK -" 'K FINTITIX 51 



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difll'iviit situations. On St. MicliacVs Nland lie i't.*vi'i' saw one of this spe- 

 cies iar Iroin liie slit»re, wliile tiie oilier sjH'cies was alauKlanl everywhere in 

 the interior of the ishnid. HnrinLr the summer hv never saw more than one 

 or two ot' these hirds at onee, nor anywhere exceid on roeky [H»inls or on 

 small rockv islands near the shore. These localities thev seemed to sliare 

 with the Havens an«l Putlins. In tlie autumn thev are niore ure^arious, l»ut 

 still seem to i)rel'er tlie vicinity of water. Mr. IJannister also ol>servetl this 

 bird at Tnalaklik, where it is common 



Wilson was of tlie opinion that these hirds derive a coiisideialtle part of 

 their food from the seeds of certain aquatic plants, and tliis hesu]>posed one 

 of the i»rincii>al reasons why they j>refer rem()t(t northern rei,dons intersected 

 with streams, ponds, lakes, and arms of the .sea, ahoundiuii; with such plant.s. 

 On Seneca Kiver, near Lake Ontario, in October, he nut with a larLce tlock 

 feedinj4 on the surface of the water, supported on the close tops of wee«ls that 

 rose from the hottoni. They were runin!;.n ahout with ^n-eat activity, and 

 the st(miachs of tho.se he shot were tilled not only witli the seeds of that 

 plant, hut also with minute shell-tish that adhered to the leaves. 



Ilichardson states that this specifs breeds in the most northern of our 

 Arctic islands, and on all the shores of the continent, from Chesterfield's Inlet 

 to liehring Strait. The most soutluM-ly of its breed in jjf-places known to him 

 was Southampton Island, in the r>iM i)arallel, where Captain Lyons found 

 a nest on the grave of an Esipiimaux cliild. Tts nest was usually made 

 of dry I'ras.s, neatlv lined with ih'vvs hair and a few feathers, and is i.ren- 

 endly fixed in the crevice of a rock, or in a loose pile of tindjcrs or stones. 

 The e<jfus are described as (»f a «'reenish-white, with a circle of irretjjular 

 undier-brown spots r uind the larLicr end, with numerous blotches of subdued 

 lavender-purple, duly 22, in renioviuLi' some drift tind»er on a bv;udi at 

 Cape Parry, he di.scovered a nest on the i;round, containinu' fouryounu Snow- 

 bird.s. Care wa.s taken not to injure them, and while they were .seated ai 

 breakfast, at a distance of only two or three feet, the ]»arent birds made fre- 

 (pient visits to their oilsin'ing, each time briunini;' lirubs in their l»ills. The 

 Snowbirds are in no a])])arent haste to leave for the South on tlie approach 

 of winter, but linger about the forts and open places, i>icking up seeds_ until 

 the snow Ijecomes too dee]). It is not until December or January that they 

 retire to *he south of the Saskatchewan. It returns to that river about the 

 niiddh^ of February, by Ajnil it has reached the (■».~>t]i parallel, and by the 

 beuiiniing of Mav it is found on the shores of the Tolar Sea. At tlds period 

 it feeds on the buds of the Sk i ifntf/^f opjiusififoh'tt, one of the earliest of the 

 Arctic plants. The young are fed witli insects. 



The Snow Hunting is also an inhabitant, during the breeding-season, of 

 the Arctic regions of P^urope and Asia, and the islands of the Arctic Sea. 

 Scoresby states that it resorts in large Hocks to the shores of Spitzbergen, and 

 Ca])tain Sabine incbules it among the birds of Oreenland and the North 

 iieorgian Islands, where it is among the earliest arrivals. Mr. Proctor, who 



