LAND BIRDS. 485 
pure white in strong contrast; wing and tail feathers plain dusky; bill and feet black; iris 
brown. In winter the clear ash gray becomes more brownish, the white under parts de- 
cidedly brownish gray, and the black throat and chest more or less veiled by gray tips of 
the feathers. : 
Adult female: General color brownish, darkest above, fading to brownish gray on breast 
and sides and to soiled whitish on the belly; back, wing-coverts and tertiaries black, streaked 
or edged with buff or rusty; usually a pale buff or whitish streak behind the eye, and the 
middle wing-coverts tipped with buffy or whitish, but no clear black, white, or chestnut 
about the head.’ Young birds at first resemble the females, but within two or three months 
the young males show traces of the distinctive head markings. 
Eeneth 5.50 to 6.25 inches; wing 2.85 to 3; tail 2.35 to 3. Female decidedly smaller 
han male. 
218. Snow Bunting. Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis (Linn.). (534) 
Synonyms: Snowflake, Snowbird, White Snowbird.—Emberiza nivalis, Linn. 1758. 
—Passerina nivalis, A. O. U. Committee, 1899.—Plectrophanes nivalis of most others 
until 1882.—Plectrophenax nivalis, Stejn., 1882, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most 
recent authors. 
Males in winter are mainly white below, mottled white, black and chestnut 
above, with the wings mainly white, but tipped with clear black. The 
females are similar, but with brownish black replacing the clear black. 
Toward spring the amount of brown decreases and the black and white 
become purer and more prominent. 
Distribution.—Northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere, breeding 
in the Arctic regions; in North America south in winter in the Northern 
United States, irregularly to Georgia, southern Illinois, Kansas and Oregon. 
This well known bird is a regular winter visitor to all parts of Michigan, 
but in much greater abundance along the shores of the Great Lakes and 
about the mouths of the rivers, and in greater numbers some years than 
in others. Stragglers and small squads appear in the northern counties 
late in October; Wood took a specimen at Caseville, Huron county, Oct. 
12, 1910, and Selous took one at Greenville as early as October 9, 1897. 
There is also a record for Mason county as early as September 25, 1909 
(Chaney, Auk, XXVII, 275). In the middle counties and southern parts 
of the state it rarely appears in force before November and the largest 
flocks, often aggregating several thousand, are most often seen after mid- 
winter. The bird is decidedly gregarious and delights in flying in the 
stormiest weather. Indeed, its appearance in numbers is often considered 
the harbinger of snow, and during heavy snow storms it seems to be particu- 
larly active and restless. 
Its food is obtained almost entirely from the ground and consists mainly 
of small seeds of various kinds, although Professor Aughey states that in 
Nebraska it always eats locusts eggs when they are obtainable. Its con- 
sumption of grass and weed seeds must be enormous, but owing to the 
desolate character of the regions it frequents, and the brevity of its visits 
to farming lands, it seems doubtful if this work has any great economic 
value. 
The bird has a peculiar rolling twitter or whistle which is quite character- 
istic and very pretty. In its summer home it is said to have a very musical 
warble. 
It usually retires northward with the disappearance of snow in March 
or early April, but a few linger for some weeks, and occasionally until the 
end of April. A. B. Covert records a large flock at Cadillac on May 11, 
1882, but it seems more likely that this was a flock of Lapland Longspurs. 
