EMBERIZII).^. 
to some quiet spot, if tliey have frequently been molested. If 
otherwise, they are nearly sure to return to the same field after 
the cause of alarm has disappeared. They seldom alight with 
the first intention. The flock descends with a gradual sweep, 
suddenly contracts its dimensions as the ground is approached, 
wheels rapidly when within a few feet of the surface, and, rising 
again, flies off to a considerable distance before venturing to 
return ; and these manoeiRTes may be repeated a score of times 
before it will settle upon the chosen spot. AVhen the birds 
have finally resolved to alight, the flock wheels repeatedly and 
rapidly, then dropping rather suddenly. 
Snow Buntings upon the wing keep up a constant chirping, 
and occasionally a sudden jarring sound may be heard ; and as 
this is usually followed by an immediate deviation of the flock 
from its course, it has been thought by some observers to be 
nothing less than a word of command ; but I have been able 
to_account for it almost completely to my satisfaction. On 
watching with a little patience, any person may observe that 
simultaneously with the utterance of the peculiar sound, one 
bird makes a rapid dart towards a near neighbour, and the two, 
in their excitement, forgetting to direct their course aright, 
de*part from the common track, thus leading the whole flock 
astray ; for birds upon the wing are always ready to imitate 
any sudden movement upon the part of an object near them, 
whether it be a stone thrown among them or one of their 
number falling to the gTound. .That the note in question is 
sometimes at least one of anger I have repeatedly observed, 
when two of the birds have been quarrelling over their food ; 
but it must also have some other meaning, for it is uttered in 
chorus by the whole flock during the performance of those 
rapid wheels close to the surface which I have attempted to 
describe above. Seen against a dark hill-side or a lowering 
sky, a flock of these birds presents an exceedingly beautiful 
appearance, and it may then be seen how aptly the term 
“ snow-flake ” has been applied to the species. I am acquainted 
with no more ]fleasing combination of sight and sound than 
