302 



PERCHERS AND SINGERS 



SNOW BUNTING. 



years I never have seen even one in the Zoological Park, but 

 I hear that they do occasionally appear in southern New York. 

 They come in flocks of from ten to twenty birds, and settle in 

 the snow as if they loved it. But for a few dark streaks on back 

 and wings, they are the color of snow, and generally have the 



plump outlines which 

 betoken good feeding 

 and contentment. 



When you see this 

 bird, remember that it 

 belongs to the polar 

 world, quite as much as 

 the arctic fox and musk- 

 ox, and in summer it 

 goes to the "farthest 

 North" on our continent. Rarely indeed does it breed in 

 even the most northerly portions of the United States, and 

 seldom enters a southern state. 



In winter the food of this pretty bird consists chiefly of 

 the seeds of weeds that send tall fruit-stalks above the level 

 of the snow. In our park grounds we scatter wheat for it, 

 on the tops of granite ledges from which the wind has blown 

 the snow, but it is only the j uncos and jays and a few other 

 birds that come for this food. 



The Slate-Colored Junco, 1 often called the Snow Bird, 

 is also a bird of the snow-fields; but it is a home product 

 rather than a visitor from the desolate Barren Grounds. 

 When seen on snow, its slaty-blue back makes it appear like 



1 Jun'co hy-e-mal'is. Length, 6 inches. 



