SNOW BUNTING. 225 
examinecl, -were filled, not only with the seeds of 
plant, but with a minute kind of shell fish that 
ttheres to the leaves. In these kind of aquatic excur- 
they are doubtless greatly assisted by the length 
j llieir hind heel and claws. 1 also observed a few on 
j*'’le Rock, above the Falls of Niagara, seemingly in 
*^''eh of the same kind of food. 
Ii -According to the statements of those traders who 
.]*''« resided near Hudson’s Bay, the snow buntings are 
Ij® earliest of their migratory birds, appearing there 
•hit the 1 1th of April, staying about a month or five 
f ®®hs, and proceeding farther north to breed. They 
|i‘*i'’n again in September, stay till November, when 
severe frosts drive them southward.* 
L Tile Slimmer dress of the snow bunting is a tawny 
^“''■n, interspersed with white, covering the head, neck, 
lower parts ; the back is black, each feather being 
r'ffed with brown ; wings and tail, also black, marked 
(1 ll'e following manner: — the three secondaries next 
. ®jbody are bordered with bay, the next with white, 
ail the rest of the secondaries, as well as their 
'’®>‘ts, and shoulder of the wing, pure U'hite ; the first 
Pfimaries are black from their coverts downwards 
fn Il'eir extremities; tail, forked, the three exterior 
‘hers, on each side, white, marked on the outer edge, 
the tip, with black ; the rest, nearly all black ; tail- 
reddish brown, fading into white; hill, pale 
Of*" '* ; legs and feet, black ; hind claw long, like that 
I, 1-he lark, though more curved. In winter, they 
^'oiue white on the head, neck, and whole under side, 
^^"■ell as great part of the wings and rump ; the back 
(fjhtinues black, skirted with brown. Some are even 
Vj *1 pure white. Indeed, so much does their plumage 
■iccording to age and season, that no two are found 
time alike. 
* London Philosophical Transactions, Ixii, 403. 
''OL. 
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