54 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



them move southward in the late fall and I find 

 them very numerous in the pine lands of the 

 Carolinas. 



Juncos are confiding and trustful in manner, 

 fearlessly coming to the lawn, even to the 

 veranda, if perchance you invite them with 

 crumbs from your table. They are very trim 

 in their neat suits of slate color above and on the 

 throat, with a light breast which gives the 

 appearance of a low-cut white vest. The female 

 has a wash of brown on the upper parts; other- 

 wise her dress is the same. The bill is flesh 

 color, looking much like a wooden peg stuck 

 into the round head. 



When you come upon a flock of Juncos, 

 sometimes before you are aware of their pres- 

 ence, you will be greeted by a most emphatic 

 " smack smack " which tells plainly of their irrita- 

 tion at being disturbed. This ill humor, how- 

 ever, soon passes and you will hear a rapidly 

 uttered *' chew chew chew^"^ a pleasing sound ex- 

 pressive of content. As the mating season comes 

 on, often just as they are leaving for the north- 

 ern nesting grounds, you may hear a dainty trill, 

 low, clear and quite musical. Their summer 

 range is from the Northern States northward. 



I once found in a northern forest a Junco's 

 nest built of fine black rootlets, lined with snow- 

 white hair, plucked, I thought, from a deer's 

 tail. This made a dainty place for the five 

 little white, brown-speckled eggs. Mr. Bur- 

 roughs once showed me where a pair of Juncos 

 had built in the side of a haymow in an old 

 barn, less than ten feet from the chair where he 



