THE SNOW BUNTING. 299 



early in December, or with the first heavy snow, particularly if 

 drifted by high winds. They are usually called the White Snowbird, 

 to distinguish them from the small dark-bluish Snowbird already 

 described. Their numbers increase with the increasing severity of 

 weather, and depth of snow. Flocks of them sometimes reach as 

 far south as the borders of Maryland ; and the whiteness of their 

 plumage is observed to be greatest towards the depth of winter. 

 They spread over the Genesee country and the interior of the 

 District of Maine, flying in close, compact bodies, driving about 

 most in a high wind ; sometimes alighting near the doors, but sel- 

 dom sitting long, being a roving, restless bird. In these plentiful 

 regions, where more valuable game is abundant, they hold out no 

 temptation to the sportsman or hunter ; and, except the few caught 

 by boys in snares, no other attention is paid to them. They are, 

 however, universally considered as the harbingers of severe cold 

 weather. How far westward they extend I am unable to say. 

 One of the most intelligent and expert hunters, who accompanied 

 Captains Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean, 

 informs me that he has no recollection of seeing these birds in any 

 part of their tour, not even among the bleak and snowy regions of 

 the Stony Mountains ; though the little blue one was in abundance. 

 " The Snow Bunting derives a considerable part of its food from 

 the seeds of certain aquatic plants, which may be one reason for its 

 preferring these remote northern countries, so generally intersected 

 with streams, ponds, lakes, and shallow arms of the sea, that proba- 

 bly abound with such plants. In passing down the Seneca River 

 towards Lake Ontario, late in the month of October, I was sur- 

 prised by the appearance of a large flock of these birds, feeding on 

 the surface of the water, supported on the tops of a growth of 

 weeds that rose from the bottom, growing so close together that our 

 boat could with great difficulty make its way through them. They 

 were running about with great activity ; and those I shot and ex- 

 amined were filled, not only with the seeds of this plant, but with a 

 minute kind of shell-fish that adheres to the leaves. In this kind 

 of aquatic excursions, they are doubtless greatly assisted by the 

 length of their hind heel and claws. I also observed a few on 

 Table Rock, above the Falls of Niagara, seemingly in search of the 

 same kind of food. 



