THE SNOW BUNTING. 211 



Oat-fowl : MACGILLIVRAY terms it the Snow Lark Bunting, and 

 describes it as "a neat and lively little bird, about the size of the 

 Yellow Bunting, and nearly of the same form, the body compact, 

 the head of ordinary size, the wings rather long." 'The 28th of 

 September is the earliest period at which this naturalist has ob- 

 served these birds in Scotland, and that was in the Outer Hebri- 

 des ; he supposes that they may occasionally breed on the higher 

 Grampians, although he does not think it likely that the vast 

 locks seen in the lower grounds in winter are exclusively of Scot- 

 tish origin. 



" Towards the end of October, these birds make their appear- 

 ance along the coasts, or on the higher grounds, of the south of 

 Scotland ; and about the same period in the south of England, 

 although there they are of much less frequent occurrence. 



" Assembled in large straggling flocks, or scattered in small 

 detachments, they may be seen flying rather low along the shore, 

 somewhat in the manner of Larks, moving in an undulating line 

 by means of repeated flappings and short intervals of cessation, 

 and uttering a soft and rather low cry, consisting of a few mellow 

 notes, not unlike those of the Brown Linnet, but intermixed at 

 times with a sort of stifled scream, or chirr. When they have 

 found a fitting place they wheel suddenly round, and alight rather 

 abruptly, on which occasion the white of the wings and tail be- 

 comes very conspicuous. They run with great celerity along the 

 sand, not by hops, like the Sparrows and Finches, but in a manner 

 resembling that of the Larks and Pepits ; and when thus occu- 

 pied, it is not in general difficult to approach them, so that speci- 

 mens are easily procured. Indeed, it frequently happens that 

 they allow a person to walk up within five yards, or even less. 

 ******** 



"Although the American ornithologists speak of their alighting 

 on trees, I have never seen them perch on even a bush, or on any 

 other high place than a crag, the top of a wall, or a corn stack, 

 in which respect they resemble our Field Lark. It is not often, 

 however, that they alight on the stacks, for they prefer searching 

 the ground around them. In the villages along the coast of Fast 

 Lothian, they are sometimes, in spring, nearly as common as 

 Sparrows, and almost as familiar. About Leith, where they are 

 generally found in winter on the beach, even close to the pier, 

 they have a very different appearance from that which they pre- 

 sent in parts of the country remote from towns, for their plumage 

 is as much soiled as that of the London Sparrows. 



" About the middle of April, or sometimes a week later, these 

 birds disappear, and betake themselves to their summer residence. 

 The nest and eggs of this species are unknown to me, and, indeed, 

 have not hitherto been detected in Britain." 



p 2 



