224 
EMBERIZA NIVALIS. 
These birds appear in the northern districts of the 
United States early in December, or with the first 
heavy snow, particularly if drifted by high winds. 
They are usually called the white snow bird, to distin- 
guish them from the small dark bluish snow bird. 
Their numbers increase with the increasing severity of 
weather, and depth of snow. Flocks of them sometimes 
reach as far south as the borders of Maryland; and the 
whiteness of their plumage is observed to be greatest 
towards the depth of winter. They spread over the 
Gennesee 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 
snoAvy 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 preferring 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 clown the Seneca river 
towards Lake Ontario, late in the month of October, I 
was surprised by the appearance 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 bot- 
tom, 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 
