Junco WESTERN BIRDS 



coming of spring a song not unlike that of the Chipping 

 Sparrow is indulged in, and although not particularly 

 musical, the uniting of the many singers is most pleasing. 

 These birds nest on the ground, using grasses, moss 

 and rootlets, and sometimes a lining of hairs. Mrs. 

 Bailey tells us to look for them in a tangle of fallen 

 tree-tips, logs, and upturned roots. "A pair I once sur- 

 prised in such a place at first sat and chirped at me — 

 with bills full of food — but soon they were flying freely 

 back and forth to the upturned root where they had 

 hidden their nests." 



GENUS JUNCO: OREGON JUNCO. 



Oregon Junco: Junco hyemalis oreganus. 



FAMILY— FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



On the north Pacific Coast the Oregon Junco spends 

 its summers, coming for the winter down the coast as 

 far south as Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties, Cali- 

 fornia. It differs from the common bird of the east in 

 having the head, neck, and chest black, which is out- 

 lined against the white of the under parts in a convex, 

 rather than a straight line; the middle of the back is a 

 deep chestnut brown; sides are a deep pinkish, and the 

 three outer tail feathers with white; the outside pair 

 wholly white. In the female the back is slaty, the 

 crown and neck washed with brown, sides and flanks 

 duller; bill pinkish, tipped with dusky. The young birds 

 are streaked on backs, buffy below. 



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