_Emberiza nivalis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 308 (not _Fringilla
nivalis_, L.).—FORSTER, Phila. Trans. LXII, 1772, 403.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. III, 1811, 86, pl. xxi.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 575; V,
1839, 496, pl. 189. _Emberiza (Plectrophanes) nivalis_, BON. Obs.
1825, No. 89. “_Plectrophanes nivalis_, MEYER.”—BON. List,
1838.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 103.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 55, pl.
155.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 345 (Spitzbergen).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 432.—NEWTON, Ibis, 1865, 502.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. A.
S. I, 1869, 282 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 177.—SAMUELS, 296.
_Emberiza montana_, GMELIN, Syst. I, 1788, 867, 25. _Emberiza
mustelina_, GMELIN, Syst. I, 1788, 867, 7. _Emberiza glacialis_,
LATHAM, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 398.
SP. CHAR. _Male._ Colors, in spring plumage, entirely black and white.
Middle of back between scapulars, terminal half of primaries and
tertiaries, and two innermost tail-feathers, black; elsewhere pure
white. Legs black at all seasons. In winter dress white beneath; the
head and rump yellowish-brown, as also some blotches on the side of
the breast; middle of back brown, streaked with black; white on wings
and tail much more restricted. Length about 6.75; wings, 4.35; tail,
3.05; first quill longest. _Female._ Spring, continuous white beneath
only; above entirely streaked, the feathers having blackish centres
and whitish edges; the black streaks predominate on the back and
crown. _Young._ Light gray above with obsolete dusky streaks on the
back; throat and jugulum paler gray, the latter with obsolete streaks;
rest of lower parts dull white. Wing-coverts, secondaries, and
tail-feathers broadly edged with light ochraceous-brown.
HAB. Northern America from Atlantic to Pacific; south into the United
States in winter, as far as Georgia and Southern Illinois.
Specimens from North America and Europe appear to be quite identical;
there is, however, a great amount of variation among individuals.
HABITS. The common Snow Bunting is found throughout northern North
America to the shores of the Arctic Sea, and in the winter months
extends its migrations into the United States as indicated above.
Mr. Dall states that in Alaska, when observed, they went altogether in
flocks. It was at times excessively common, and at others entirely
absent. It builds its nests on the hillside, generally on the ground,
under the lee of a stone. He obtained a large number of these birds at
Nulato, in the winter of 1867-68. It was much more common there than
the _P. lapponicus_, which was only seen in the spring, while this
bird was there all the year round. Mr. Dall also met with these birds
on St. George’s Island, and Mr. Bischoff obtained them at Sitka.
According to Mr. Bannister’s observations it was altogether less
abundant than the _P. lapponicus_, and seemed to prefer rather
different situations. On St. Michael’s Island he never saw one of this
species far from the shore, while the other species was abundant
everywhere in the interior of the island. During the summer he never
saw more than one or two of these birds at once, nor anywhere except
on rocky points or on small rocky islands near the shore. These
localities they seemed to share with the Ravens and Puffins. In the
autumn they are more gregarious, but still seem to prefer the vicinity
of water. Mr. Bannister also observed this bird at Unalaklik, where it
is common.
Wilson was of the opinion that these birds derive a considerable part
of their food from the seeds of certain aquatic plants, and this he
supposed one of the principal reasons why they prefer remote northern
regions intersected with streams, ponds, lakes, and arms of the sea,
abounding with such plants. On Seneca River, near Lake Ontario, in
October, he met with a large flock feeding on the surface of the
water, supported on the close tops of weeds that rose from the bottom.
They were running about with great activity, and the stomachs of those
he shot were filled not only with the seeds of that plant, but also
with minute shell-fish that adhered to the leaves.
Richardson states that this species breeds in the most northern of our
Arctic islands, and on all the shores of the continent, from
Chesterfield’s Inlet to Behring Strait. The most southerly of its
breeding-places known to him was Southampton Island, in the 62d
parallel, where Captain Lyons found a nest on the grave of an
Esquimaux child. Its nest was usually made of dry grass, neatly lined
with deer’s hair and a few feathers, and is generally fixed in the
crevice of a rock, or in a loose pile of timbers or stones. The eggs
are described as of a greenish-white, with a circle of irregular
umber-brown spots round the larger end, with numerous blotches of
subdued lavender-purple. July 22, in removing some drift timber on a
beach at Cape Parry, he discovered a nest on the ground, containing
four young Snowbirds. Care was taken not to injure them, and while
they were seated at breakfast, at a distance of only two or three
feet, the parent birds made frequent visits to their offspring, each
time bringing grubs in their bills. The Snowbirds are in no apparent
haste to leave for the South on the approach of winter, but linger
about the forts and open places, picking up seeds, until the snow
becomes too deep. It is not until December or January that they retire
to the south of the Saskatchewan. It returns to that river about the
middle of February, by April it has reached the 65th parallel, and by
the beginning of May it is found on the shores of the Polar Sea. At
this period it feeds on the buds of the _Saxifraga oppositifolia_, one
of the earliest of the Arctic plants. The young are fed with insects.
The Snow Bunting is also an inhabitant, during the breeding-season, of
the Arctic regions of Europe and Asia, and the islands of the Arctic
Sea. Scoresby states that it resorts in large flocks to the shores of
Spitzbergen, and Captain Sabine includes it among the birds of
Greenland and the North Georgian Islands, where it is among the
earliest arrivals. Mr. Proctor, who visited Iceland in 1837, found the
Snowbird breeding there in June. He found their nests placed among
large stones or in the fissures of rocks, composed of dry grass lined
with hair and feathers. The eggs were from four to six in number. The
male attends the female during incubation. Mr. Proctor states that he
has seen this bird, when coming from the nest, rise up in the air and
sing sweetly, with its wings and tail spread in the manner of the Tree
Pipit. Linnæus, in his Tour in Lapland, mentions seeing these birds in
that country about the end of May, and also in July. He also mentions
that this bird is the only living thing that has been seen two
thousand feet above the line of perpetual snow in the Lapland Alps.
This bird also breeds on the Faroe Islands. Mr. Hewitson found its
nest in Norway. It contained young, and was built under some loose
stones. Young birds have also been noticed early in August among the
Grampians, in Scotland, rendering it probable that they breed in that
locality, and perhaps in considerable numbers. As the severity of
winter increases, they leave the heaths where they have fed upon the
seeds of grasses, and descend to the lowlands, frequenting the
oat-stubbles, and, when the snow is deep, approaching the coast. Their
call-note is pleasing, and is often repeated during their flight,
which they make in a very compact body. Before settling on the ground
they make sudden wheels, coming almost into collision with each other,
uttering at the same time a peculiar guttural note. They run on the
ground with all the ease of Larks, and rarely perch. Temminck states
that they are very abundant in winter along the sea-coast of Holland.
Their appearance in Massachusetts is usually with the first heavy
falls of snow, in December and January. They are most abundant in the
open places near the sea-coast, and formerly were very numerous in the
marshes between Boston and Brookline. A wounded male in full adult
plumage was taken by me, in 1838, and kept some time in confinement.
It would not accustom itself to a cage, and a large box was prepared
in which it could run more at large. It fed readily on grain and
cracked corn, delighted to bathe itself several times in the day, but
would not be reconciled to my near presence. On my approach it would
rush about its prison, uttering its peculiar call-notes, blending with
them a loud guttural cry of alarm. As the spring approached, it
warbled occasionally a few notes, but uttered from time to time such
mournful cries, as if bewailing its captivity, that it would have been
released, had its crippled condition permitted it to take care of
itself. It was given in charge of a friend, but did not live through
the heat of the ensuing summer.
It is stated that a nest of this bird was found among the White
Mountains by Mr. Kirk Boott, of Boston, in the summer of 1834. It
contained young birds. This, if the identification was correct, was
probably an accidental occurrence. None have been noticed there since,
nor have I ever been able to find any of the permanent residents among
the mountains that have met with these birds in that region, except in
winter.
The only authenticated nest and eggs (10,433) in the Smithsonian
collection were received from Mr. R. MacFarlane, with the parent,
taken on the Arctic coast east of Fort Anderson, and having on the
label, “Nest situated in a cave in a sand-bank.” The nest is deeply
saucer-shaped, and composed of wiry grass-stems, with a few feathers
in the lining; external diameter 3.75 inches, internal about 3.00;
depth, 2.50 externally and 1.50 internally. The eggs, five in number,
are of a dull white, with perhaps a faint bluish cast, sprinkled and
spattered with dilute yellowish-rufous, the markings most numerous
toward the larger end; they measure .95 of an inch in length by .64 in
breadth.
Plectrophanes lapponicus, SELBY.