928 EEPOKT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



darker at tip. Female, in Breeding Plumage. Streaked above with 

 black, white below. 



Length, about 6.50-7.00; wing, 4.20-4.50; tail, 2.80-3.15. 



EANGE. Northern part of northern hemisphere; south in winter 

 to northern Illinois, northern Indiana and northern Ohio, and south- 

 ern New England. Casually to District of Columbia, Georgia and 

 Kentucky. Breeds from Labrador to Alaska, north. 



Nest, on ground, of grass and moss, lined with fine grass and 

 feathers. Eggs, 4-7; greenish or bluish- white, spotted, principally 

 about the larger end, with brown; .91 by .64. 



The Snowflake comes to us from the north, in flocks, with the whirl- 

 ing wreaths of the midwinter snow. They are irregular in their com- 

 ing and variable in their numbers. Sometimes they are absent for 

 several years. Other winters they occur in numbers in the northern 

 portion of the State. Farther south they are of rare occurrence, ap- 

 pearing during the coldest weather. 



Dr. Haymond observed it in Franklin County, where it was later 

 identified by Dr. C. E. Case, in December, 1880. Mr. E. L. Guthrie 

 noted it in Decatur County the winter of 1883-4. Mr. Angus Gaines 

 informs me that it is a rare winter visitor in Knox County. Mr. Eobert 

 Eidgway has reported a single specimen from Mt. Carmel, 111., on the 

 opposite side of the Wabash Eiver. They were quite common about 

 Indianapolis during the extreme cold weather and snow of January, 

 1879 (Brayton). 



Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., says of it, in Cook County. 111., and Lake 

 County, Ind.: "Not uncommon winter visitor. Found in large flocks 

 on our prairies. On November 9, 1891, I found these birds in thou- 

 sands on the sand flats about Wolf Lake. December 17, 1895, they 

 were very abundant on the beach at Miller's, Ind. The last leave 

 for the north during March. Latest, March 15, 1884." 



Mr. C. E. Aiken says they were exceedingly abundant in the vicinity 

 of Chicago the winter of 1869-70. They were noted in the vicinity of 

 Chicago, November 11, 1895 (Blackwelder), and, the spring of 1893, 

 remained until March 12 (Dunn). At Plymouth, Mich., they appeared 

 October 16, 1894, and in 1893 remained until March 20 (Alexander). 

 They have been noted from Michigan City as a rare winter visitor 

 (Byrkit). Miss Colfax reported them there, January 15, 1884. Away 

 from the lakes we see them very rarely in December, generally appear- 

 ing in January and February. Among other localities they have been 

 noted as follows: Newton County, seen several times (Pfrimmer); 

 Carroll County, January 15, 1884, January to February, 1885 (Ever- 

 mann); Starke County, a number of flocks at English Lake, February 



