SNOWFLAKE. 
303 
has penetrated to the coast of the Polar Sea. At this period it 
feeds upon the buds of the purple saxifrage (Saxifraga opposi- 
iifoiia), one of the most early of the Arctic plants. 
As the Snow Bunting sometimes begins to visit the United 
States in October, it appears pretty certain that some of these 
birds breed almost, if not quite, within the northern limits of 
the Union ; and as stated elsewhere, a nest has been found 
near the rocky summit of the White Mountains of New 
Hampshire. 
The Snow Bunting is usually restricted in summer to the higher 
latitudes, — from Labrador and the Great Slave Lake region to the 
Arctic Ocean, — but an occasional flock is seen farther southward, 
and nests have been taken in the White Mountains and at Spring- 
field, Mass. 
Mr. A. Hagerup, who saw considerable of this bird when in 
Greenland, writes to me that the song is a sweet and pleasing 
melody, though rather disconnected, “delivered in short stanzas.” 
“ Warbling,” he adds, “is perhaps the English word best suited to 
describe its character.” 
