48 Bird- Lore 



Five birds of the north there are that I never expect to see 

 His Season during an open winter — the Snow Owl, Pine Grosbeak, Red- 

 poll, the rare Lapland Longspur who leaves the print of his 

 long hind toe in the snow to tell of his coming, and the Snowflake, — all but the 

 Owl belonging to the great family of Finches and Sparrows. When these birds 

 appear we may know that even if we have had but a light snowfall, there have 

 been great Arctic storms that have passed off' perhaps seaward, scattering the 

 birds before their fury. 



Of all these birds of the wind, the Snowflake is the most winning, allowing 

 us to come near him as he feeds, and venturing close to our houses, barnyards 

 and hayricks in search of food, sometimes to the very doorstep itself where, 

 a few years ago, I saw a small flock of seven feasting upon the waste seeds that 

 had been thrown out frorri the Canary's cage 



Few birds have more appropriate and descriptive names than this, who was 

 beforetimes called the Snow Bunting, and in the minds of poets and many others 

 confused with the Gray Snow Bunting, now called the Slate-colored Junco by 

 the Wise Men to stop confusion, as the Junco has kindred in the West and 

 South. 



After the snowfall has ceased and we look across the open toward the wooded 

 strips to see the fanciful shapes the trees have taken, a slight motion draws the 

 eye toward a protected hollow where the bent and broken stalks of mullein, rag- 

 weed and wild sunflowers still hold their own above the snow. 



What is it, — brown leaves drifting about? Impossible! The only uncovered 

 leaves are those few that cling dry and rustling to the young beeches and oaks, 

 refusing to let go until the swelling buds of March actually break, their grip. 



Work your way carefully toward the nearest shelter, field- or opera-glass 

 in hand, and you will see not leaves, but a flock of plump, compactly built birds, 

 a little larger than the familiar English Sparrow. At first you will have diffi- 

 culty in separating them from the snow for they are all white underneath and 

 have much white on the neck, head, wings and tail. Such colors as the Snowflake 

 wears, is, when seen close, a deep rust-color, but it is so mixed with the white 

 that at a short distance the plumage takes on all the dead-leaf hues of fawn 

 and russet, as if the birds were themselves animated leaves frolicking with the 

 blowing snow. When they take to wing they give a sharp call note somewhat 

 like the second syllable of the call of the Scarlet Tanager. This is the Snow- 

 flake's winter dress; in summer he wears clear black and white. 



The Snowflake is a summer resident of the Arctic Circle from which, in its 

 winter travels, it visits Europe and eastern Asia as well as the United States, 

 and may therefore be classed with the small group of circum- 

 His Country polar birds. They therefore nest in the extreme north where 

 the tree growth is so stunted that the region is called "the Land 

 of Little Sticks." In winter it is to be found throughout New England and 

 irregularly in the middle states. 



