269 



9 



beautiful black-and-white plumage of some, spring Arctic specimens on my table as I write, the 

 white being always smirched with rusty brown; and the bill, at least of birds of the year, is 

 flesh-coloured instead of jet. I presume that the nuptial livery is worn but a short time, and 

 think it very likely that the purest colours may not be reached the first spring. But doubtless 

 your own information upon this point is precise. 



"After what I quoted just now of April and May birds in Massachusetts, you might be 

 surprised at some of the dates of Arctic specimens before me, which are the same as these from 

 New England. We have April advices, indeed, at various places in British America, some of 

 them very high up in latitude ; Greenland quotations to like effect ; and, in fact, every thing goes 

 to show how imperfect and spasmodic, so to speak, the autumnal migration is ; and we must 

 conclude that our United-States troops are but a little sprinkling of the whole. The winter 

 records confirm what these others indicate of the bird's ability to endure the rigours of that 

 season far to the north. I will only give one : ' obtained many of these birds at Nulato,' writes 

 Mr, Pall (Trans. Chicago Acad. i. p. 283). 



"Any well-regulated ornithologist might well be excused for getting excited over what I 

 must call the ' pure cussedness ' of this little creature. What perversity appears on setting this 

 winter Alaska record of Mr. Dall's over against the information furnished by Mr. Allen that 

 'Mr. C. W. Bennett tells me that a pair spent the summer of 1862, and reared their young, in 

 Springfield ' (Cat. Birds Massachusetts, Proc. Essex Inst. iv. 1864, p. 70). The Snow-Bunting 

 hardly ever breeds south of Labrador, and often passes still further north before its restless 

 spirit is satisfied; and this exceptional case is the more particularly noteworthy since it is, so 

 far as I am informed, the one solitary recorded instance of the breeding of the Snow-Bunting in 

 the United States." 



In its habits the Snow-Bunting has far more affinity to the Larks than to the true Bunting. 

 It runs with celerity in a similar manner to a Lark. Its flight is well described by Audubon, 

 from whose long and exhaustive account I extract the following particulars : — '• The flight of 

 this bird has considerable resemblance to that of the Shore-Lark, being rapid, elevated, and 

 greatly protracted. It glides, as it were, through the air in long and easy undulations, repeating 

 a soft whistling call-note at each of these curves. While on the ground they run nimbly, and, if 

 wounded, make off with great celerity, hiding in the grass, where it is difficult to find them, 

 as they lie close and silent until danger is over. They arrive in flocks, alight, disperse, run 

 nimbly in masses from the foot of one corn-stalk to the next, scratch the ground here, pick up 

 a dormant insect there, or nibble the small seeds of the withered grass, mixing them with a 

 portion of gravel. They now and then alight on trees, frequently on fences, and sometimes on 

 the roofs of low buildings, in such compact bodies or continued lines as to render it easy for the 

 sportsman who may be inclined to shoot them to procure a great number at once." 



It feeds on seeds of various descriptions, insects, and larvae — the former during the winter, 

 and the latter during the spring and summer. 



Respecting the habits of this species in Spitsbergen, I translate the following from Dr. 

 Malmgren's notes: — "On the 17th of May, when we were in 75° N. lat., a flock of these birds, 

 amongst which we could distinguish birds of the past year, settled in our rigging. Although 

 evidently very tired, they rested only a short time, and then continued their journey against a 



