1044 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 paex 2 



which echoed sweetly amid the swirling banners of mountain fog. 

 A Carolina slate-colored junco greeted the advent of another day. 



If any one bird could be said to typify a region essentially, this 

 race of the slate-colored junco deserves that accolade for the Blue 

 Ridge Mountains of eastern United States. From the 3,000-foot 

 level to the highest point in eastern North America at Mount Mitchell 

 (6,684 feet), it is the characteristic avian form. When William 

 Brewster (1886) described it as "Differing from J. hyemalis in being 

 larger, with lighter, bluer, and more uniform coloration, and a horn- 

 colored, instead of pinkish-white or yellowish bill," he placed its type 

 locality at Black Mountain in Buncombe County, N.C. 



For some 20 summers I lived much of the time within 3 miles of 

 Black Mountain and had intimate contact with the bird from the 

 Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains at the 

 North Carolina-Tennessee line. During that time I learned some- 

 thing of the bird's way of life at fu'st hand. Certainly, anyone 

 interested in ornithology who has ever visited that region will agree 

 that this junco cannot fail to attract attention. Preeminently a 

 mountain dweller, it is as characteristic of the area as the very rocks, 

 the rhododendron "hells," the "balds" and steep ravines, and the 

 the vegetation itself. 



Spring. — The Carolina slate-colored junco is one of the few examples 

 of eastern American birdlife that can be considered to indulge in ver- 

 tical migration. Some birds do not leave the mountains at all 

 throughout the winter; those that do usually retm-n at the first marked 

 indications of the change of season, which varies somewhat from year 

 to year. As spring comes on, the birds that descended from the high 

 country to winter at lower levels return to their mountain haunts. 

 This is often only a short distance measured in miles, but it takes them 

 into a completely different environment because of the elevation. 



James T. Tanner (1958) comments "The 'migration' of Juncos from 

 the valleys to the mountains in spring is gradual and indefinite. On 

 March 19, 1952, for example, there were very few Juncos in their 

 nesting areas at Mt. LeConte. By April 3 Juncos were common and 

 many were singing there. It appears that March 25 is approximately 

 the time at which the males, at least, move into their nesting terri- 

 tories. Yet some individuals may stay in the valleys around Gat- 

 linburg, at the foot of the mountains, as late as April 20." 



Courtship. — As my earliest visits to the high country were always 

 about the time nest buUding was in progress, I have never witnessed 

 the courtship activities of this junco. Tanner (1958) describes the 

 onset of breeding activities as foUows: 



Each male claims and defends a territory, but the resulting combats and chases 

 are tame and brief, and the territories are not extensive. Early in the season I 



