214 SNOW BUNTING 
“They are caught b the boys in autumn, when they collect near 
the.shores in great flocks, in order to migrate; and are eaten dried.* 
“Tn Europe, they inhabit, during summer, the most naked Lapland 
alps, and descend in rigorous seasons into Sweden, and fill the roads 
and fields; on which account the Dalecarlians call them ilwarsfogel, 
or bad-weather birds—the Uplanders, hardwarsfogel, expressive of 
the same. The Laplanders style them alaipg. Leems} remarks, I 
know not with what foundation, that they fatten on the flowing of the 
tides in Finmark,.and grow lean on the ebb. The Laplanders take 
them in great numbers in hair springs, for the tables, their flesh being 
very delicate. 
“They seem to make the countries within the whole arctic circle 
their summer residence, from whence they overflow the more southern 
countries in amazing multitudes, at the setting in of winter in the 
frigid zone. In the winter of 1778-9, they came in such multitudes 
into Birsa, one of the Orkney Islands, as to cover the whole barony ; 
yet of all the numbers, hardly two agreed in colors. 
“Lapland, and perhaps Iceland, furnishes the north of Britain with 
the swarms that frequent these parts during winter, as low as the 
Cheviot Hills, in lat. 52° 32. Their resting-places, the Feroe Isles, 
Shetland, and the Orkneys. The Highlands of Scotland, in particular, 
abound with them. Their flights are immense, and they mingle so 
closely together in form of a ball, that the fowlers make great havock 
among them. They arrive lean, soon become very fat, and are delicious 
food. They either arrive in the Highlands very early, or a few breed 
there, for I had one shot for me at Invercauld, the 4th of August. 
But there is a certainty of their migration ; for multitudes of them 
fall, weuried with their passage, on the vessels that are sailing through 
the Pentland Firth.t 
“In theirsummer dress, they are sometimes seen in the south of 
England,§ the climate not having severity sufficient to Affect the col- 
ors; yet now and then a milk-white one appears, which is usually mis- 
taken for a white Lark. : 
“ Russia and Siberia receivg them in their severe seasons annually, 
im amazing flocks, overflowing almost all Russia. They frequent the 
villages, and yield a most luxurious repast. They vary there infinitely 
in their winter colors, are pure white, speckled, and even quite brown.|| 
This seems to be the influence of difference of age; more ‘than of 
season. Germany has also ils share of them. In Austria, they are 
caught and fed with millet, and afford the epicure a treat equal to that 
of the Ortolan.”7 : 
These birds appear in the northern districts of the United States 
early in December, or with the first heavy snow, particularly if drifted 
by high winds. They are usually called the white Snow Bird, to dis- 
tinguish them from the small dark bluish Snow Bird already described. 
Their numbers increase with the increasing severity of weather, and 
depth of snow. Flocks of them sometimes reach as far south as the 
borders of Maryland ; and the whiteness of their plumage is observed 
-)- be greatest towards the depth of winter. They spread over the 
* Faun. Greenl. 118. { Finmark, 255. 
{t Bisnop Pococx’s Journal, MS. § Morron’s Northamp. p. 427. 
ll BELL’s Travels, i. 198. VT Kramer, Anim. Austr. 372.. 
