184 Birds I Have Ke^pt. 



members of the Bunting family; which, as I have said, I 

 immensely appreciate, not only for his own sake, but more 

 especially for that of the young donors, and I trust that he 

 may long survive to remind me of their thoughtfulness and 

 attention. 



The Snow Bunting, Emberi%a nivalis in scientific nomenclature, 

 V Ortolan de neige of Buffon, and der Schneeammer of Bechstein, 

 is a fine plump bird, aboat the size of a Lark, but with a shorter 

 tail: the feathers of the back and rump are black, edged, the 

 former with white, and the latter with yellowish brown; there 

 is a bar of white on the brown wings, and the outer feathers 

 on each side of the tail are of the same colour, tipped with cin- 

 namon brown: a small patch of brown marks the cheek; the 

 face, throat and belly are greyish white. 



The female is smaller and has more white about her than 

 the male. The rather small beak is yellow, with a black tip 

 in both sexes, but it turns uniformly black in the male in 

 summer. 



These birds are natives of the extreme north of Europe; 

 breeding, it- is said, within the Arctic Circle, and only moving 

 south in search of food during severe winters: they are shy, 

 and are scarcely ever seen in the vicinity of human habitations- 

 The call is loud, but not unmelodious, resembling a sharp whistle, 

 but the song is spoiled by an admixture of harsh notes. 



The food of these birds consists principally of insects, seeds 

 being partaken of only when animal food has failed. My bird 

 was nearly starved when I first had him, and was so weak he 

 could not fly, or, indeed, scarcely stand: he soon recovered his 

 health and vigour, however, when a few mealworms were added 

 to his daily bill of fare. Oats, hemp, and canary seed appear 

 to be the seeds he prefers, but even these he will scarcely touch 

 as long as he can find an insect of any kind : but he is not a 

 large eater, on the contrary, he grew quite fat on a dozen or so 

 mealworms a day. He is fond of bathing, and picks the tops 

 off the blades of a sod of grass like the Lark. 



