Plate CLXXXIX. Male and Female in winter.
Male, in winter, with the head, neck, lower parts, a great portion of
the wings, including the smaller coverts, secondary coverts, several
secondary quills, the bases of the primaries and their coverts, and
the greater part of the outer tail-feathers on each side, white; the
head and hind neck more or less tinged with brownish-red, the upper
parts reddish-grey or yellowish-red, mottled with black, the concealed
part of the plumage being of the latter colour, the bill
brownish-yellow. Female, in winter, with the white less extended.
Young, at this season, like the female, but more brown. Male, in
summer, with the back, scapulars, inner secondaries, terminal portion
of primaries, and four middle tail-feathers, deep black, all the other
parts pure white, the bill black. Female with the black parts tinged
with brown, and more or less reddish-brown on the head and rump.
_Male_, 7, 13.
In winter, from Nova Scotia to Kentucky. Abundant. Much rarer along
the Atlantic coast. Some breed in Vermont and Massachusetts. Fur
Countries in summer.
Snow-Bunting, Emberiza nivalis, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. iii. p.
86.
Emberiza nivalis, Bonap. Syn. p. 103.
Emberiza (Plectrophanes) nivalis, Snow Buntling, Swains. &
Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 247.
Snow Bunting, Emberiza nivalis, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 458.
Snow Bunting, Emberiza nivalis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 515;
v. v. p. 496.
GENUS II. EMBERIZA, Linn. BUNTING.
Bill short, robust, tapering, somewhat compressed; upper mandible with
its dorsal line declinate and slightly convex, the ridge indistinct,
the sides convex, the edges a little inflected, ascending to beneath
the nostrils, then descending or direct, with a slight notch close to
the narrow tip; lower mandible with the angle short and wide, the
dorsal line ascending, and very slightly convex, the ridge broad at
the base, the sides convex, the edges inclinate, their outline
ascending for a third or more of its length, then direct, the tip
narrow. Nostrils basal, roundish. Head large, ovate; neck very short;
body rather stout. Feet of moderate length, rather strong; tarsus of
ordinary length, compressed, with seven anterior scutella; toes rather
large; the hind toe strong, and longer than the lateral, which are
equal, the third much longer, and united to the fourth at the base.
Claws long, arched, much compressed, acute. Plumage soft and blended,
but firm. Bristles feeble. Wings of moderate length, rather acute;
the first three quills longest. Tail of moderate length, emarginate.
* Wings rather long, with the second and third quills longest.