SNOW-BIRD. 



131 



branch of the Susquehanna, they breed in great numbers. The 

 nest is fixed in the ground or among the grass, sometimes several 

 being within a small distance of each other. According to the ob- 

 servations of the gentlemen residing at Hudson bay factory, they 

 arrive there about the beginning of June, stay a week or two, and 

 proceed farther north to breed. They return to that settlement in 

 the autumn on their way to the south. 



In some parts of New England I found the opinion pretty ge- 

 neral, that the Snow-bird in summer is transformed into the small 

 Chipping Sparrow, which we find so common in that season, and, 

 which is represented in the same plate. I had convinced a gen- 

 tleman of New York of his mistake in this matter, by taking him 

 to the house of a Mr. Gautier, there, who amuses himself by keep- 

 ing a great number of native as well as foreign birds. This was 

 in the month of July, and the Snow-bird appeared there in the same 

 colored plumage he usually has. Several individuals of the Chip- 

 ping Sparrow were also in the same apartment. The evidence 

 was therefore irresistible; but as I had not the same proofs to offer 

 to the eye in New England, I had not the same success. 



There must be something in the temperature of the blood or 

 constitution of this bird which unfits it for residing, during sum- 

 mer, in the lower parts of the United States ; as the country here 

 abounds with a great variety of food of which, during its stay here, 

 it appears to be remarkably fond. Or perhaps its habit of asso- 

 ciating in such numbers to breed, and building its nest with so 

 little precaution, may, to ensure its safety, require a solitary region, 

 far from the intruding footsteps of man. 



The Snow-bird is six inches long, and nine in extent ; the 

 head, neck, and upper parts of the breast, body and wings, are of 

 a deep slate color; the plumage sometimes skirted with brown, 

 which is the color of the young birds ; the lower parts of the breast, 

 the whole belly and vent, are pure white ; the three secondary quill 

 feathers next the body are edged with brown, the primaries with 



