THE LAPLAND LONGSPTJR. 
353 
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 this kind of 
aquatic excursion they are, doubtless, greatly assisted by the length of their hind 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.” 
As has already been noticed, the 
plumage of the Snow Bunting varies 
greatly in its coloring, passing through 
every imaginable stage between the 
winter and summer dress. The winter 
plumage of this bird is briefly as fol- 
lows : The back and part of the wings 
are dark black-brown, and the whole 
of the remaining feathers are pure 
snowy- white. In all cases the amount 
of black is very variable, and in some 
instances the entire plumage has been 
white. In the summer, the color is a 
tawny-brown, speckled with white, 
and the back is black, mottled with 
, rm ,, , . SNOW BUNTING. — Plectrophan-es nivalis. 
brown. The quill-feathers of the wing 
and tail are black, variegated with bay and white, and the under surface dull white, deepening 
into tawny on the flanks. The length of the bird is about seven inches. 
Besides the examples already given, there are very many other species of Bunting 
scattered over the surface of the globe, whose history is equally interesting, but cannot be 
given in a work of the present dimensions. The species, however, which have already been 
mentioned are good examples of the group, and will serve as types by which the character of 
the sub-families may be known. 
The Snow Bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis) is common to both hemispheres. The entire 
Arctic circle is inhabited by flocks of this bird during the summer. 
LAPLAND LONGS PUR , — Gerdrophanes lapponlcus. 
The Lapland Longspue, Smith’s Bunting, Chestnut-collared Bunting, McGowans, are 
closely allied species, with similar habits and localities, 
Vol. EL — 45 
