618 
2 
edged with white, rest of the tail white, all except the outer feathers tipped with black; bill and legs 
black ; iris brown. ‘Total length about 7°75 inches, culmen 0°55, wing 4°55, tail 3°05, tarsus 0°95. 
Adult Female. Differs from the male in having the ashy grey on the head less pure, the throat less marked 
with black, and the underparts rather dirty white. 
Adult in winter (Switzerland, January). Crown and nape a trifle less clear grey than in the male above 
described, the back being also rather lighter; underparts a trifle dirty in tinge, and the black on the 
throat scarcely visible, the feathers haying broad white margins; beak yellow with a slight dark mark 
at the base of the upper mandible. 
Nestling (Switzerland). Has all the characteristics in plumage of the old bird; but the head is brownish 
ash, a few bits of down still remain on the crown, the back is uniform dull brown, and the underparts 
are tinged with buff; the wings and the short tail are marked almost as in the adult; bill yellowish ; 
legs dull dark brown. 
RESTRICTED entirely to the more elevated mountain-ranges, stragglers only being met with on 
the plains during the winter season, the Snow-Finch has but a comparatively small range. 
It does not occur in the north of Europe, nor in the northern portions of Central Europe. 
Messrs. Degland and Gerbe state that it has been met with as an accidental straggler as far 
away from its mountain-haunts as the neighbourhood of Amiens; but otherwise it is restricted to 
the departments of the Hautes and Basses Alpes and to the Pyrenees. Messrs. Jaubert and 
Barthélemy-Lapommeraye state that it sometimes descends during the winter to the Bouches du 
Rhone and the banks of the Durance, but leaves as soon as the extreme rigour of the season 
abates. I do not find it recorded from Portugal; but it is found in Spain, and Colonel Irby 
states that he has seen specimens obtained in the Sierra Nevada, but never personally observed 
it. The Alps appear to be its true home; and there it is, in certain portions of the more elevated 
mountains, by no means uncommon. Bailly says (Orn. Sav. ili. p. 172) that it is resident in 
Switzerland and Savoy, being met with, during the better season of the year, only in the more 
elevated portions of the mountains, close to the eternal snows; and it is most frequently to 
be found on the St. Gothard, the Great St. Bernard, Mont Cenis, and in the limestone-regions 
of the Maurienne Alps. When the snow envelops the summits of the Alps the Snow-Finches 
descend into the lower regions, and are then seen near Chambéry. The snows of December 
and January drive annually a few flocks down to the rocky hills of Apremont, Saint Baldolph, 
Mont Basin, at the foot of the Nivolet, Vimines, Saint Sulpice, &c. &c. Schinz (Vog. der 
Schweiz, p. 76) says that it is a true alpine bird, frequenting the most elevated portions of the 
mountains. ‘“‘ Here,” he writes, ‘‘ they may be seen in the summer, flying about in small flocks, 
uttering a peculiar whistling note. We observed them on several occasions in the dreary and 
wild portions of the Gemmi pass. On the Grimsel and on the Simplon, at the hospices, we saw 
this species flying about and hopping on the ground, like our common Finches, in the winter ; 
and in both places, as well as in the monastery of the Great St. Bernard, they nest in these 
buildings. In the monastery of the St. Bernard they fly in and out of the corridors, and are 
during the winter fed with seed, especially rice, which is thrown out to them; and they pick the 
rice out of the sacks when left in the corridors. In the summer they feed also on insects; and 
Spriingle found the stomach of one filled with the remains of small beetles.” 
