Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/553

Rh there consists of grass seeds, insects of various kinds, and minute testaceous mollusca. They not unfrequently alight on the wild oats growing on the borders of lakes and ponds, to feed on its seeds, and with all these sub- stances they mix a proportion of fine sand or gravel.

Ebiberiza nivalis, Linn. Syt. Nat. vol. i. p. 308 Ch. Bortaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 103.

Emberiza (plectrophanes) nivalis, Snow Buntling, Swains. znA Richards. Fauna Boreal. Amer. vol. ii. p. 247.

Snow Bunting, Emberiza nivalis, TFiYs. Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 86. pi. 21. fig. 2.

Adult in winter. Plate CLXXXIX. Fig. 1,2.

Bill short, robust, tapering, somewhat compressed ; upper mandible slightly convex in its dorsal line, the sides rounded, the sharp edges inflected; the palate with a convex prominence ; lower mandible broader, with involute sharp edges ; the gap-line deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, rounded, open, partly concealed by the feathers. The general form is rather robust. Feet of ordinary length ; tarsus compressed, anteriorly covered with a few long scutella, sharp behind ; toes scutellate above, granulate beneath, compressed, lateral toes equal; claws slightly arched, compressed, rather obtuse, with a short deep grove on each side at the base, the hind claw much longer.

Plumage soft and blended, the feathers somewhat distinct on the back only. Wings long, pointed, first quill longest, second scarcely shorter, second and third slightly cut out on the outer edge towards the end ; se- condaries emarginate. Tail of moderate length, deeply emarginate.

Bill yellow, the tips brown. Iris brown. Feet brownish-black. Head brownish-white, the crown and ear-coverts pale chestnut. Hind neck greyish white, tinged with chestnut. Feathers of the back brownish, margined and broadly tipped with light yellowish-red; the rump feathers white, tipped with the latter colour. The whole under surface is white, the sides of the neck and breast tinged with reddish-brown. Wing-coverts on both sides, and six outer secondaries, white ; primary coverts white, tipped with brownish-black, primaries brownish-black, slightly margined and tipped with white, and having a broad band of the same extending over the base, and enlarging inwards, inner secondaries brownish-black, margined with pale reddish. Three outer tail-feathers on each side white, excepting towards the end, where they are brownish-black, of