SNOW BUNTING. 475 



which, according to my note-books, I have observed the 

 Snowflake in the outer Hebrides, was on Sunday the 28th 

 of September 1817, on which day it is recorded that on 

 the ridge between Maodal and Eonaval I saw a Snow 

 Bunting ; and in returning along the shore by the low hills 

 of Drimafuind saw another. In another place, dated 

 Luachar, in Harris, I find the following statement. " The 

 Snow Bunting is frequently met on the hills in small flocks. 

 I am told they are never seen in summer, nor have I ever 

 met with them there beyond the end of April ; yet the 

 little flocks which I have often observed, were apparently 

 family groups; nor do these birds appear in large con- 

 gregations, such as we often see along the shores of Scot- 

 land or England. On the 4th of August 1830, being on 

 the summit of Ben-na-muic-dui, the highest mountain in 

 Scotland, I observed a beautiful male flitting about in the 

 neighbourhood of a great patch of snow ; it was also seen 

 by Dr. Greville at the same time. Some days after, hav- 

 ing descended from the top of Lochnagar, to its corry, 

 along with Dr. Martin Barry, in quest of plants, I met 

 with a flock of eight individuals, flying about among the 

 blocks of granite. They were evidently a family, the male 

 and female being easily distinguished from the young. It 

 is therefore very probable that the Snowflake breeds on 

 the higher Grampians ; and perhaps in considerable num- 

 bers, although it is not likely that the vast flocks seen in 

 the lower grounds in winter are exclusively of Scottish 

 origin." 



I may further add here, that Colonel Thornton in his 

 Sporting Tour in the Highlands of Scotland, says, Snow- 

 flakes were seen upon the summit of a Ptarmigan moun- 

 tain August 29th. Mr. Selby says, that " these birds ge- 

 nerally arrive in the upland or mountainous districts about 



