318 
EMBERIZA NIVALIS. 
feathers, mark the recent loss they have sustained of 
their coloured margins. 
“ A female, killed on the 10th of June, is noticed by 
Mr Edwards, as having' the crown and nape black, with 
white tips. Fabricius remarks correctly, that the 
white feathers of the back and belly, when blown 
aside, appear black at their bases. This occurs both in 
the summer and winter plumage of the male bird. 
“ The snow buntings frequent the shores of the Arctic 
Sea during the summer season, retiring inland in the 
winter to shelter themselves in wooded tracts. At 
Cumberland House, in the interior of the country, and 
in lat. 54°, they remain the greater part of the winter, 
absenting themselves only occasionally during the severe 
storms of December and January. At Fort Enterprise, 
in lat. 64°, they were also seen in the winter, but more 
rarely, and in a register kept for a series of years at 
Fort Churchhill, in lat. 59°, on the sea-coast, they are 
noted as arriving from the 26th of March to the 7th 
of April ; disappearing in the summer, returning again 
in the end of September, and remaining for about a 
month. It is mentioned as a rare occurrence, that one 
was killed in December. They made their first appear- 
ance at Captain Parry’s winter quarters, in lat. 66°, 
on the 27th of April. In their winter migrations, they 
reach, according to Wilson, (vol. ii. p. 224.) as far south 
as the borders of Maryland. 
“ They breed on Melville peninsula, and Captain 
Lyon describes their nest as being placed in the 
crevices of rocks, or amongst loose stones, and con- 
structed of dried grass, neatly lined with white deers’ 
hair. They lay seven eggs. (Parry’s Narrative , 
p. 462.) 
“ Pennant remarks, that it is singular that a gramini- 
vorous bird should resort to the barren regions of the 
Arctic circle ; but Mr Brown has pointed out, that the 
grasses which grow on the islands of the Arctic Sea, 
form nearly one-fifth of the phsenogamous vegetation ; 
a proportion nearly double to what occurs in any other 
part of the world. These grasses retain their seeds all 
