A perturbation method is applied to the pair of second-order, coupled, nonlinear differential equations that describe the propagation, through a cold electron plasma, of plane waves of fixed profile, with direction of propagation and electric vector perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field. The equations are expressed in terms of polar variables π, φ, and solutions are sought as power series in the small parameter n, where c/n is the wave speed. When n = 0 periodic solutions are represented in the (π,φ) plane by circles π = constant, and when n is small it is found that there are corresponding periodic solutions represented to order n2 by ellipses. It is noted that further investigation is required to relate these finite-amplitude solutions to the conventional solutions of linear theory, and to determine their behaviour in the vicinity of certain resonances that arise in the perturbation treatment.