584 NORTH AMKRICAN BIRDS. 



Junco hyemalis, vai. aikeni, l!nir;\vAY. 



WHITE-WINGED SNOWBIRD. 



Sp. Char. Generally similar to J. lojcmaUs, but considerably larger, with more robust 

 bill ; two white bands on the wing, and three, instead of two, outer tail-feathers entirely 

 white. No. Gl,302 <?, El Paso Co., Colorado, December 11, 1871, C. E. Aiken : Head, 

 neck, jugulum, and entire upper parts clear ash ; the back with a bluish tinge ; tlie lores, 

 quills, and tail-feathers darker; middle and secondary wing-coverts rather broadly tipped 

 with white, forming two conspicuous bands. Lower part of the breast, abdomen, and 

 crissuin pure white, the anterior outline against the ash of the jugulum convex; sides 

 tinged with ash. Three lateral tail-feathers entirely white, the third, however, witli a 

 narrow streak of dusky on the terminal third of the outer web ; the next feather mostly 

 plumbeous, with the basal fourth of the outer web, and the terminal half of the inner, along 

 the shaft, white. Wing, 3.40 ; tail, 3.20 ; culmen, .50 ; depth of bill at base, .30 ; tarsus, .80. 



Hab. El Paso County, Colorado. 



At first siglit, tliis bird appears to be a very distinct species, being larger 

 tliaii any other Xorth American form, and possessing in the wliite bands on 

 the wing characters entirely peculiar. Its large size, however, we can at- 

 trilmte to its al])ine habitat, agreeing in this respect, as coiiapared with /. 

 hi/rmrdis. with thi' ./. cd/irohc of Guatemala, which we can only consider an 

 alpine or somowliat local I'unn id'./'. r/inereii,i. That the white bands on the 

 wing do not constitute a character stifficiently important to be considered of 

 specific value is proved by the fact tliat in many specimens of J. orccjonus, 

 and occasionally in J. hyemalis, there is sometimes quite a distinct tendency 

 to these bands in tlie form of obscure white tips to the coverts. 



H.\BITS. But little is known as to the habits of this variety ; probably 

 they do not differ from those of its congeners. It was met with by Mr. 

 C. E. Aiken, near Fountain, El Paso County, in Colorado Territory, in the 

 winter of 1871 - 72. They were rare in the early winter, became rather 

 common during the latter part of February and the first of March, and had 

 all disappeared by the first of .Vpril. Dtiring winter only males were seen, 

 but, in the spring, the females were the most numerous. Tliey were usually 

 seen singly, or in companies of two or three, and not, like the others, in 

 larger flocks. 



Junco oregonus, Sclater. 



OREGON SNOWBIRD. ; «,=-,Vt>t-97>5 



^/ 



Fringilla oregnnti, Townsend, ,I. A. N. Sc. VII, 1S37, 188. — Ib. Narrative, 1839, 345. — 

 AuD. Oru. Biog. V, 1839, 68, pi. cccxcviii. Slruthus orcgonus, Box. List, 1838. — Ib. 

 Consp. 1850, 475. — Nkwbehry, Zool. Cal. & Or. Koute ; Rep. P. R. R. VI, iv, 1857, 

 88. Niphmi oregmm. Am. Syn. 1839, 107. — Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 91, pi. clxviii. 



— Cab. Mus. Hem. 1851, 134. Jwnco oregmius, ScLATEB, Pr. Zool. Soc. 18.^)7, 7. — 

 Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 466. — Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 120 (British Columbia). 



— Cooper & Sucklet, 202. — Coues, Pr. Phil. Ac. 1866, 85 (Arizona). — Dall K 



