430 FAMILY FRINGILLID^E ; BULLFINCH, SNOW-BUNTING. 



whistle airs with great firmness and precision. This Bird feeds 



chiefly during the winter and 



spring upon the buds of various 



trees and shrubs ; as the thorn, 



larch, birch, plum, gooseberry, 



and other fruit-trees; and it is 



from this cause very injurious 



to orchards. The Snow-Bunting 



or Snow-flake is an inhabitant 



of the Arctic regions ; building 



among the rocks, and finding its 



subsistence upon the seeds of rushes and other hardy plants. 



When the violence of the polar winter sets in, however, it is 



FIG. 229. HEAD OF BULLFINCH. 



FIG. 230. SNOW-BUNTING. 



driven southwards, and comes in large numbers to the various 

 countries of the north of Europe. After their long flights, they 

 are usually much exhausted ; but they soon recover and become 

 fat, and are sometimes called the Ortolans of the North. They 

 usually return northwards in February and March. The Snow- 

 flake is a neat and lively little Bird, readily distinguished by its 

 peculiar colouring, in which white is very conspicuous. The 

 winter plumage is of a browner cast ; the black and white 

 feathers having a brown margin, which is worn off in summer. 

 The Sky-Lark is placed by some Ornithologists in the Den- 

 tirostral group ; but its bill seems to indicate that its relationship 



