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the rigging of the vessel was suddenly covered by a flock of Snow-Buntings, which did not stay 

 to rest very long, but continued their course towards Spitzbergen, against a stormy wind. This 

 bird appears to extend its range to the extreme north of the country, he having found a brood 

 of newly fledged young in Brandywine Bay (lat. 80° 24' N.). The specimens I obtained seemed 

 to be of the Old-World type ; that is to say, they are not quite so large or so stoutly built as 

 those I have from Greenland and America. If the Fringilla flammea or F. linaria of Scoresby 

 is not this species, I am at a loss what to make of it; for certainly it is extremely unlikely 

 that a species of Bedpoll should resort to a country so entirely destitute of any thing that can 

 be called a tree or shrub as Spitzbergen is." Regarding its general distribution in Russia, 

 Mr. Sabanaeff writes that it " occurs regularly throughout the country, usually appearing early 

 in the winter and leaving in March. In the south it remains over the winter, and frequents the 

 plains and fields covered with snow ; but near Moscow and Jaroslaf it is a migrant, remaining 

 only a few days, and then moving further north, being common in the northern portions of the 

 Archangel Government." Bickbeil has not observed it near Sarepta ; and Eversmann states that 

 it only occurs to the south of the Uralsk during exceptionally severe winters. Sabanaeff met 

 with it in the open country of the Ural in thousands in the early spring and autumn ; and 

 he considers that it breeds on the eastern slope of the Ural, as he procured a female in May 

 1869 near Karakuz, in the district of Ekaterinburg, which was in full breeding-plumage, and 

 evidently nesting. 



It occurs in the Baltic Provinces in winter; and Mr. Taczanowski writes that "it arrives 



annually in Poland in the winter, but in very unequal numbers ; during severe winters they are 



numerous, but rare during mild seasons. They remain a very short time, usually arriving late 



in December, and leave in February or early in March as the snow begins to melt." In North 



Germany large flocks appear in severe winters in the eastern portion, but in the western part 



they are only seen at great intervals. Dr. E. Bey writes that, as stated by Nitsch, large numbers 



appeared at Halle in the winters of 1819 and 1830. On the 20th of November, 1863, he saw a 



small flock during a snow-storm in a field near Rath mansdorf. In Denmark it appears in the 



winter, earlier or later according to the severity of the season. On the Dutch coast, Professor 



Schlegel writes, numbers are sometimes seen during cold seasons, and spread inland. De la 



Fontaine records it as rare in Luxemburg ; but Degland and Gerbe state that it occurs annually 



in the north of France. In Southern France, however, it is extremely rare, and has not been 



recorded from Spain or Portugal. Dr. Girtanner informs me that it " is extremely rare in 



Switzerland. Last winter (1871-72) a specimen was shot in the Rheinthal (valley of the Rhine) ; 



but years may elapse ere another is found. I only remember two instances of its occurrence ; 



and I believe I hear of every rare bird that is procured in Switzerland." Salvadori states that he 



has seen specimens obtained in Liguria and Lombardy in severe winters ; and it appears to be 



occasionally obtained in other parts of Italy ; but statements of Italian naturalists respecting this 



species must be received with caution, as they have constantly confounded it with Montifrin- 



gilla nivalis. Doderlein includes it in his list on the strength of a specimen killed near Modena, 



now in the Palermo Museum. Schembri records two occurrences on Malta in 1840. In Austria, 



the Ritter von Tschusi-Schmidhofen writes, small flocks of this Bunting occur during severe 



winters, and they consort with Buntings and Finches. In Bohemia, Mahren (Moravia), and 



