THE SNOW EUXTING. 403 



amazing flocks, overflowing almost all Russia. They frequent the villages, 

 and yield a most luxurious rejiast. They vary tlierc infinitely in their win- 

 ter colors, arc pure white, speckled, and even quite brown. This seems to 

 he the influence of difference of age more than of season. Germany has 

 also its share of them. In Austria they are caught and fed witii millet, and 

 afford the ci)icure a treat equal to that of the Ortolan. 



" Tiicse birds appear in tiie northern districts of tiio United States early in 

 December, or with the first heavy snow, particularly il' drifted by high winds. 

 They are usually called the W/titc Snowbird, to distinguish them from tlie 

 small dark-bluish Snowbird already described. Their numbers increase 

 with the increasing severity of weather and depth of snow. Flocks of them 

 sometimes reach as far south as the borders of Maryland ; and the whiteness 

 of their plumage is observed to be greatest towards the depth of winter. 

 They spread over the Genesee country, and the interior of the District of 

 Maine, flying in close, comj)act bodies, driving about most in a high wind ; 

 sometimes aliiihtinu near the doors, but seldom sittinir lonir, beinLi- a rovin'^'-, 

 restless bird. In these plentifid regions, wiicre more valuable game is 

 abundant, they hold out no temptation to the s[)ortsman or hunter; and, 

 except the few caught by bo^-s in snares, no other attention is paid to them. 

 They are, however, universally considered as the harliingers of severe cold 

 weather. IIow fir westward they extend I am unable to say. One of the 

 most intelligent and expert hunters, who accompanied Captains Lewis and 

 Clarke on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean, inf inns me that he has no 

 recollection of seeing these birds in any part of their tour, not even among 

 the bleak and snowy regions of the Stony Mountains, though the little blue 

 one was in abundance. 



" The Snow Bunting derives a considerable part of its food from the seeds 

 of certain aquatic plants, which maybe one reason for its preferring these 

 remote northern countries, so generally intersected with streams, ponds, 

 lakes, and shallow arms of the sea, that probaldy abound witii such plants. 

 In passing down the Seneca River, towards Lake Ontario, late in the month 

 of October, I was surprised bj- the appearance of a large flock of these birds, 

 feeding on the surface of the water, supported on the tops of a growth of 

 weeds that rose from the bottom, growing so close together that our boat 

 could with great difficulty make its way through them. They were running 

 about with great activity ; and those I shot and examined were filled, not 

 only with the seeds of this plant, but with a minute kind of shell-fish that 

 adiieres to the leaves. In this kind of aquatic excursions they arc doubtless 

 greatly assisted by the length of their hind licel and claws. I also observed 

 a few on Table Rock, above the Fulls of Niagara, seemingly in search of 

 the same kind of food. 



