6 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
ships, provisions were scarce, a dish of fat Snow Buntings 
became not only an agreeable change, but an actual necessity. 
Messrs. Seebohm and J. A. Harvie-Brown (‘ Ibis,’ 1876, p. 118) 
state that in the neighbourhood of Ust-Zylma, on the Petchora 
river, in spring, great numbers are taken by the boys in horse-hair 
nooses, and are sold 100 for half a rouble, and very good eating 
they are. Towards the beginning of April they saw large flocks 
feeding on the great manure heaps by the side of the river Mezen, 
close to the town of that name. 
In its summer haunts the Snow Bunting feeds much on the 
buds of Sazxifraga oppositifolia, and the larve of midges and 
mosquitoes, collected from the many little shallow pools where 
they undergo their metamorphoses, as those who have spent June 
and July in high latitudes have discovered to their cost. It is said 
that Snow Buntings do not perch on trees or bushes; they 
commonly do this both in North America in the winter and in 
Northern Europe during the summer.* Of late years I have seen 
small flocks fly from the “ fitties” on the Lincolnshire coast, and 
crossing the embankment alight on the top of one of those tall 
shelter-hedges so frequent in the marshes. They are also very 
fond of perching on any slight eminence, such as a stone or sod, 
and it is not uncommon to see a newly-sown field of corn with a 
bird perched on each prominent clod. 
Snow Buntings leave us late in February or early in March, 
and in North-East Lincolnshire I have not seen them later than 
the 21st of this month,+ at which time the old males had the dark 
feathers on the back, but edged with brownish grey. The local 
name of this species on the east coast is ‘‘ Norway Sparrow,” also 
**Snow-bird” and ‘‘ Snowflake.” The Danish name is “ Snefugle,” 
and by the Eskimo it is called “ Trapaluarsak.” 
There appear to be two, if not three, races or varieties of 
this species, the American and Greenland bird, not specifically - 
distinct from the European, but differing in being larger and more 
stoutly built. It is quite possible that examples of this larger 
race may occur occasionally in Europe. Somewhere, we know, in 
regions near the Pole, the summer homes of the two races must 
* See ‘ Siberia in Europe,’ by H. Seebohm, 1880, p, 37. 
{+ Mr. St. John (‘ Nat. Hist. & Sport in Moray,’ p. 281) says, ‘‘ They leave 
us late, some remaining to the first week in May.” These, however, may be 
birds which nest in Scotland, retiring in May from the coast to the interior, 
