CAROLINA SLATE-COLORED JUNCO 1047 



only when closely approached; I have had my face within a foot of an incubating 

 bird before she left. This, and the fact that the nests are usually well hidden, 

 makes it difficult to find nests during this stage. The male does not incubate, 

 but he stays in the vicinity, foraging for himself and occasionally singing. When 

 the female leaves the nest for food, she frequently flics directly to the male and 

 then moves off to search for food. She forages industriously with the male 

 usually following her, behind and a little above. He may perform the courtship 

 display. The female usually moves in a circle back to the nest, which she fre- 

 quently approaches by hopping along the ground. During the incubation period 

 she spends about three times as much time on the nest during the day as she does 

 ofif for feeding, but the periods on and off are irregular. She passes the night on 

 the nest. 



The average incubation period is about twelve days, and since incubation 

 begins with the next to the last egg, the eggs of a four egg set begin to hatch 

 fourteen days after the first egg is laid. They do not hatch simultaneously, 

 partly because the last egg is not laid until after incubation has started. 



Eggs. — Those of this subspecies do not differ in color from those 

 of the nominate race. The measm'ements of 40 eggs average 20.1 

 by 15.2 milUmeters; the eggs sho\\'ing the four extremes measure 21.2 

 by 14.7, 21.1 by 16.0, and 18.8 by 1^.5 milHrneters. 



Young. — Again according to Tanner (1958): 



"Both parents bring food to the young, working hard and steadily. Whenever 

 one gets a billful of food, it flies directly to the nest and remains there very briefly, 

 except when the female settles to brood for a short time, which she does more 

 frequently when the young are small. The food brought consists of insects; 

 moths and small caterpillars are common. The size of the insects increase with 

 the size of the nestlings. Because of the feeding activity of the parents, and 

 also because they are likely to scold persistently if a person comes near, nests 

 are most easily found at this stage. 



When hatched, the nestlings are naked except for a little down. Two days 

 after hatching the sheaths of the body feathers appear as dark "pinfeathers". 

 Five days after hatching the eyes open, and a day later the primary feathers of 

 the wing begin to break out of the tips of their sheaths. Nine days after hatching 

 the tail feathers begin to break out at the tip and the body is fairly well covered 

 with feathers. The young may leave on the tenth or eleventh day if the nest 

 is disturbed, but normally they will leave on the twelfth or thirteenth day. By 

 this time the wings are well developed, the tail is almost an inch long, and they 

 can fly clumsily but surprisingly well. 



Young out of the nest are fed by the parents at least until the former are full 

 grown. The length of care seems to depend on whether or not a second nest is 

 started, in which case the young are earlier left by themselves. The majority 

 of Juncos in the Smokies wUl nest a second time; the exceptions are some pairs 

 at the very lowest elevations which appear to nest only once. The behavior 

 during the second nesting is the same as during the first. 



Plumages. — Richard R. Graber (1955) comments that this race is 

 very much Uke J. h. hyemalis in all plumages, but slightly grayer 

 and less bro^vn throughout. He describes the juvenal plumage of 

 carolinensis as follows: 



"Crown and nape dull gray, imiformly streaked uith black. Back 

 tinged slightly with bro\vn, rather sparsely streaked with black. 



