340 Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 
polaris in bis ^ Sibiriscbe Reise/ ii. p. 146. This bird was 
described from a female^ obtained by Middendorff about three 
hundred miles to the north-east of the locality where I pro¬ 
cured my bird. He represents it as differing from the female 
of E. schmniclus in almost precisely the same characters which 
I have pointed out above as distinguishing the two males. 
Emberiza aureola^ Pall. 
I shot this very handsome and conspicuous bird for the 
first time on the Arctic circle on the 9th of June^ but only 
occasionally saw it afterwards. This must be nearly its 
northern limit. On the return journey I shot it again at 
Yen-e-saisk'^ in lat. 58°^ in the middle of August, with scarcely 
fledged young. There are skins of this bird in the St.-Peters¬ 
burg Museum, collected by Baron Maydell in the Tschuski 
Land. 
Emberiza leucocephala, Gmel. 
I shot one solitary bird of the Pine-Bunting on the Arctic 
circle on the 13th of June, but did not meet with it again. 
Emberiza rustica, Pall. 
I did not meet with this bird until I reached lat. 62°, on 
my return journey. 
Plectrophanes nivalis (Linn.). 
In crossing the great steppes of South-western Siberia, 
between Tyu-main' and Tomsk, we frequently came upon 
small flocks of Snow-Buntings. These birds seem to have no 
settled winter home; but during the cold weather they appa¬ 
rently live a roving gipsy life, wandering about in flocks, 
perpetually migrating northwards as fast as the frost and 
snow will let them, but continually forced to beat a retreat 
with every return of wintry weather. As we passed through 
Yen-e-saisk' early in April, we were told that the Snow- 
Buntings had arrived just before us. When we reached the 
winter-quarters of the ^ Thames,^ on the 23rd of April, the 
sailors informed us that the Snow-Buntings had preceded us 
by a few days. Small flocks were constantly seen until the 7th 
of June. We saw no more of them until we reached Gol- 
cheek'-a, where we were in their breeding-grounds. 
