374 CALCARIUS PLECTROPHANES 



Hob. N. Europe, Asia, and America, not far below the Arctic 

 Circle, but not in Iceland or Greenland, straying south in 

 winter to Central and Southern Scandinavia, rarely to Great 

 Britain and continental Europe ; wintering in Asia in Mongolia, 

 Manchuria, and N. China ; in America in the Northern United 

 States and Canada. 



In habits it resembles the true Buntings. On the ground it 

 runs with ease, and though restless is not shy, and it frequently 

 perches on shrubs and bushes. Its call-note resembles that of 

 P. nivalis, but is higher in tone and not so strong, and its clear 

 full song, which is uttered as it rises in the air and gently 

 descends, is like that of a Reed Bunting. The nest, which is 

 placed on the ground or in a low bush, is constructed of 

 rootlets, grass-bents, and moss, and is always lined with feathers. 

 The eggs, 5 to 6 in number, are usually deposited in June, 

 and are olive-brown or greyish green with brown spots and 

 blotches, sometimes with a few dark brown scrawling lines, and 

 measure about 0'81 by 0'60. 



PLECTROPHANES, B. Meyer, 1822. 



538. SNOW-BUNTING. 

 PLECTROPHANES NIVALIS. 



Plectrophanes nivalis (Line.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 308 (1766) ; (Nanm.) iv. 

 p. 297, Taf. 106, 107 ; (Audubon) B. Am. pi. 189 ; Hewitson, i. 

 p. 184, pi. xlvi. fig. 3 ; Gould B. of E. iii. pi. 170 ; id. B. of Gt. 

 Brit. ; Newton, ii. p. 1 ; Dresser, iv. p. 261, pi. 224, 225, fig. 2 ; 

 (Sharpe) Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 572 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 550 ; 

 Sannders, p. 225 ; Lilford, iv. p. 14, pis. 7, 8. 



Ortolan de neige, French ; Schneeammer, German ; Sneeutogors, 

 Dutch ; Snespurv, Dan. and Norweg, ; Snosparf, Swed. ; 

 Sniotitlingr, SdlsJerikia, Icel. ; Allap, Lapp. ; Lumi&irkku, Finn. ; 

 Podoroschnik, Russ. 



$ ad. (Lapland). Back, primaries, except at the base, spurious wing, 

 inner secondaries and scapulars, and central rectrices black ; the rest of 

 the plumage pure white ; bill and legs black ; iris dark brown. Culmen 

 0'45, wing 4'2, tail 2'5, tarsus 0'9, middle toe with claw 0'55 inch. The 

 female differs in having the black feathers with white or buffy white 

 margins. In the winter the head, neck, and upper parts are reddish buff 

 or pale chestnut streaked and marked with black, the quills and tail- 

 feathers blackish with warm buff margins, the secondaries chiefly white ; 

 under parts white, the flanks washed with rusty yellow and streaked with 

 brown, the chest marked with rusty yellow. 



