86 
SNOW BUNTING. 
borders of Maryland ; and the whiteness of their plumage is observed to 
be greatest towards the depth of winter. They spread over the Ge- 
nesee country and the interior of the district of Maine, flying in close 
compact bodies, driving about most in a high wind ; sometimes alighting 
near the doors, but seldom sitting long, being a roving, restless bird. 
In these plentiful regions, where more valuable game is abundant, they 
hold out no temptation to the sportsman or hunter ; and except the few 
caught by boys in snares, no other attention is paid to them. They are, 
however, universally considered as the harbingers of severe cold weather. 
How far westward they extend I am unable to say. One of the most 
intelligent and expert hunters who accompanied Captains Lewis and 
Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean, informs me, that he has 
no recollection of seeing these birds in any part of their tour, not even 
among the bleak and snowy regions of the Stony Mountains ; though 
the little blue one was in abundance. 
The Snow Bunting derives a considerable part of its food from the 
seeds of certain aquatic plants, which may be one reason for its prefer- 
ring these remote northern countries, so generally intersected with 
streams, ponds, lakes and shallow arms of the sea, that probably abound 
with such plants. In passing down the Seneca river towards Lake 
Ontario, late in the month of October, I Avas surprised by the appear- 
ance of a large flock of these birds feeding on the surface of the water, 
supported on the tops of a growth of weeds that rose from the bottom, 
growing so close together that our boat could with great difficulty make 
its way through them. They were running about with great activity ; 
and those I shot and examined were filled, not only with the seeds of 
this plant, but with a minute kind of shell fish that adheres to the leaves. 
In these kind of aquatic excursions they are doubtless greatly assisted 
by the length of their bind heel and claws. I also observed a few on 
Table Rock, above the Falls of Niagara, seemingly in search of the same 
kind of food. 
According to the statements of those traders who have resided near 
Hudson's Bay, the Snow Buntings are the earliest of their migratory 
birds, appearing there about the eleventh of April, staying about a 
month or five weeks, and proceeding farther north to breed. They re- 
turn again in September ; stay till November, when the severe frosts 
drive them southward.* 
The summer dress of the Snow Bunting is a tawny brown, inter- 
spersed with white, covering the bead, neck and lower parts ; the back 
is black, each feather being skirted with brown ; wings and tail also 
black, marked in the following manner : — the three secondaries next the 
body are bordered with bay, the next with white, and all the rest of the 
* Loud. Phil. Trans. LXII. 403. 
