COMMON SNOW-BIRD. 89 



grass-seeds, to procure which they often leap up from the ground, and 

 dexterously seize the bending panicles. 



It is a true hopping bird, and performs its little leaps without the least 

 appearance of moving either feet or legs, in which circumstance it resembles 

 the Sparrows. Another of its habits, also indicative of affinity to these 

 birds, is it resorting at night, during cold weather, to stacks of corn or hay, 

 in which it forms a hole that affords a snug retreat during the continuance 

 of such weather, or its recurrence through the winter. In fine weather, 

 however, it prefers the evergreen foliage of the holly, the cedar or low 

 pines, among which to roost. Its flight is easy, and as spring approaches, 

 and its passions become excited by the increased temperature, the males 

 chase each other on wing, when their tails being fully expanded, the white 

 and black colours displayed in them present a quite remarkable contrast. 



The migration of these birds is performed by night, as they are seen in a 

 district one day, and have disappeared the next. Early in March, the Snow- 

 bird is scarcely to be seen in Louisiana, but may be followed, as the season 

 advances, retreating towards the mountains of the middle districts, where 

 many remain during the summer and breed. Although I never had the 

 good fortune to find any of their nests, yet I have seen them rear their 

 young in such places, and particularly in the neighbourhood of the Great 

 Pine Forest, where many persons told me they had often seen their nests. 



During the period when the huckleberries are ripe, they feed partially 

 upon them, being found chiefly on the poorest mountain lands, in which that 

 shrub grows most abundantly. I have seen the Snow-birds far up the 

 Arkansas, and in the province of Maine, as well as on our Upper Lakes. I 

 have been told of their congregating so as to form large flocks of a thousand 

 individuals, but have never seen so many together. Their flesh is extremely 

 delicate and juicy, and on this account small strings of them are frequently 

 seen in the New Orleans market, during the short period of their sojourn in 

 that district. Towards the spring, the males have a tolerably agreeable song. 



The twig on which you see them is one of the tupelo, a tree of great 

 magnitude, growing in the low grounds of the State of Louisiana, and on 

 one of which I happened to shoot the pair represented in the plate. 



The principal breeding places of this species are in the range of the 

 Alleghany Mountains, and their spurs, commencing in the State of Virginia, 

 and continuing eastward. It is merely a summer resident in the Fur Coun- 

 tries, where it is not common, and where it was not met with by Dr. 

 Richardson beyond the 57th parallel. I did not find it in Labrador, nor 

 does it occur on the Rocky Mountains, where it seems to be represented by 

 Fringilla oregona. My friend Dr. Bachman has seen it in the breeding 

 season (June) in the mountainous districts of Virginia, in considerable 



