268 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



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they leave the nest. The addition of a week or 

 lo days to this -period, finds them sufficiently 

 matured to feed themselves. At first they are 

 fed by both parents. Their diet mainly consists 

 of the larvae of Anisopteryx vernata, A. pometaHa, 

 Zerene catenaHa, Eufitchia ribeai'ia, Limacodes 

 scapha, Ckcerodes transversata, and mature forms 

 of Tabanus lineola, T. cinctus, Culices, Musca 

 domestica, Aphis mali, A. rosce, and others. Later, 

 the smaller Noctuidce, Toriricidee, and Tineid(e, 

 with Ajns mellifica, Selandria vitis, S. caryte, and 

 and many species of the Andrena and Halicttts. 



After the young are able to provide for them- 

 selves, they continue with their parents, and, 

 doubtless, constitute the small flocks which are 

 seen in September and October feeding upon the 

 seeds of Cirsiunu, Aster, and Solidago. 



The eggs of this species are sharply accuminate 

 at one extremity and rounded at the other, and of 

 a uniform bluish-white color. The average mea- 

 surement is .66 by .53 of an inch. 



Plectrophanes nivalis, Meyer. 



The: Snow Bunting is an occasional winter resi- 

 dent in Eastern Pennsylvania, appearing with the 

 first snows in December and January. In autumn 

 in their northern habitats, they are quite grega- 

 rious, and seem to prefer the vicinity of water, 

 most probably on account of the abundance of 

 certain aquatic plants which exist in such localities, 

 ■upon the seeds of which they subsist. In this 



