THE WHITE WAGTAIL III 



attaches to the Snow Bunting, from the fact that it is (according to 

 Linnaeus) the only living animal that has been seen two thousand 

 feet above the line of perpetual snow in the Lapland Alps. Mention 

 of it frequently occurs in books of Arctic travels. I must not 

 omit to state that the specimens obtained in Great Britain vary 

 so considerably in the proportions of white and tawny in their 

 plumage, that there were at one time considered to be three several 

 species. In Norfolk, I have seen them in severe weather flocking 

 with Larks, among which they make themselves so conspicuous 

 by the white portion of their plumage, as to be popularly known 

 by the name of ' White-winged Larks '. 



THE LAPLAND BUNTING 



CALCARIUS LAPP6NICUS 



Crown of the head black, speckled with red ; throat and breast black, a broad 

 white band extending from the eye down the sides of the neck ; nape 

 bright chestnut ; back, wings, and tail variegated with brown, white, and 

 black ; under parts white, spotted at the sides with dark brown. Length 

 six inches and three-quarters. Eggs pale ochre-yellow, spotted with 

 brown. 



This bird, as its name denotes, is an inhabitant of high northern 

 latitudes ; and its occurrence in this country is very rare. A 

 few only have been shot, in places remote from each other ; and 

 in the year 1843, a female was captured by a bird-catcher near 

 Milnthorpe, in Westmoreland, and kept for some time in an aviary, 

 where it soon became friendly with its companions and took its 

 daily meal of rape, canary, or hemp seeds, and now and then a 

 sprinkling of oats, with apparent satisfaction. In the Arctic 

 regions it inhabits hilly and mountainous districts, and spends & 

 most of its time on the ground, where it runs in the manner of 

 Larks, and where also it builds its nest. The male is said to have 

 a pleasing song, combining that of the Skylark and of the Linnet. 



FAMILY MOTACILLID^ 

 THE WHITE WAGTAIL 



MOTACILLA ALBA 



Summer — head, breast, wings and tail variegated with black and white ; chin' 

 throat, and neck black ; back and scapulars pearl-grey ; side of the neck 

 as low as the wings white. Winter — chin, throat and neck white, with 

 an isolated black gorget. Length nearly seven inches and a half. Eggs 

 bluish white, speckled with black. 



This species has bred in England more frequently than has been 

 supposed. It is not uncommon in Cornwall in spring, and indeed 



