The temporal variation of the precipitating electron flux in the 47 eV to 1-keV energy range, detected in the low-altitude cusp, is studied as a function of the solar-wind parameters and the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). It is found that the electron flux intensity in the polar cusp region depends nonlinearity on the density of the solar-wind plasma and that it is higher in the negative IMF Bz period than in the positive IMF Bz period. Both these facts are consistent with the predictions of the existing models of magnetic field-line merging at the magnetopause; however, the possibility that nonlinear diffusion processes predominant cannot be eliminated.