THE LAPLAND BUNTING. 157 



Foljambe, who in a letter to Colonel Montagu says: "A few years 

 ago I snot more than forty from the same flock, hardly any two of 

 which exhibited precisely the same plumage, but varied from the 

 perfect Tawny to the Snow Bunting in its whitest state." 



THE LAPLAND BUNTING, 



( Plectrophanes Lapponica.) 

 PLATE X. FIGURE II. 



THIS species, also called the Lapland Lark Bunting, Lapland Finch, 

 and Lapland Long-spur, very closely resembles the Snow Bunting in 

 form and proportions, but its wings are rather shorter, and its bill 

 shaped more like that of a Finch. It is a native of the northern 

 countries of Europe and Asia, and the Arctic Regions, but a few 

 specimens have been met with in Germany, France, and Switzerland, 

 and others in our own island. The first of the latter was purchased 

 in the London market, and afterwards placed in the museum of the 

 Zoological Society. The second was taken on the Sussex downs, and 

 the third a few miles north of London. Another was caught at Preston, 

 in Lancashire, and another near Kendal, in Westmorland. Two other 

 specimens were obtained in Norfolk, the first near Postwick in January, 

 1856, and the second at Crostwick in April, 1862. 



Dr. Richardson states that this bird breeds in moist meadows on the 

 shores of the Arctic Sea. The nest, usually placed on a small hillock 

 among moss and stones, is composed of dry stems of grass, and lined 

 with deer's hair and feathers. The eggs, from five to seven in number, 

 are pale ochre-yellow, spotted with brown. 



The food of the Lapland Bunting consists chiefly of the seeds of 

 arctic and alpine plants, such as the willow and arbutus, and also of 

 insects. Its call-note is melancholy, and is said by Meyer to resemble 

 the syllables 'itirr* and 'twee.' The male has a simple but pleasant 

 song, which it usually utters whilst on the wing. 



In Lapland these birds are commonly to be seen in large flocks, 

 they move rapidly along the ground in their search for food; but if 

 disturbed, mount into the air and fly swiftly and buoyantly. They are 

 said to sometimes associate with Larks and other birds of similar habits 



