■ SNOWFLAKE. : 311 



are exceedingly restless, never remaining long in one place, and even 

 when feeding, the flock will often arise without apparent cause 6f 

 alarm and go off as if never to return, but not unfrequently they 

 come swirling back and alight on the spot from which they have juSt 

 arisen. There are one or two instances on record of their nestg 

 and eggs having been found among the highest mountain peaks in 

 Massachusetts, but their breeding ground is within the Arctic 

 circle, from which they d'escend over the northern portions of both 

 continents, enlivening many a dreary region with their sprightly 

 presence during the dull days of winter, till reminded by the 

 lengthening days and rising temperature to return again to their 

 northern home. 



All our Canadian boys and girls are familiar with the Snowbird, 

 which is frequently the only one they see when out for the first 

 sleigh ride of the season, and often have I been interrogated as to 

 where the birds go when they leave us in spring and where they 

 have their nests. With the view of satisfying my juvenile readers 

 on these points, I shall here make a short extract from Mr. Nelson's 

 most interesting work on the "Birds of Alaska," which tells how he 

 found them in that distant and dreary country ; 



"The Snowflake is a well-known summer bird in all the circuih- 

 polar regions, and none of the various Arctic expeditions have 

 extended their explorations beyond the points where this handsome 

 species is found. About Plover Bay, on the high mountains rising 

 abruptly from the water, I found it common and breeding the 

 last of June, 1881, and on June 24th, the same season, it was also 

 found in fine breeding plumage at the south-west cape of St. Law- 

 rence Island, where we landed from the "Corwin." At the base of 

 this bluff were the ruined huts of the famine-stricken Eskimo, and 

 the steep hill-side was studded with the glistening skulls of the 

 victims. Every large depression held a heavy snow-bank, and the 

 tops of the hills were gray with masses of lichen-colored rocks or a 

 stunted vegetation. 



" On the summit overlooking the desolate scene were two walrus- 

 hide huts, sheltering a few survivors of a village which contained 

 nearly 200 inhabitants a little over a year before. As we made our 

 way up to these huts, we were greeted by the hard, rattling chirr of 

 several Snow Buntings as they flew from place to place before us. 



" Their note was different from any I ever heard them utter 

 during their winter visit to the south, and was one of protest or 

 alarm, as shown by the uneasiness of the birds as they flitted over- 



