1056 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 paet 2 



to the share of the female, while the male watched over her, encom^ag- 

 ing her by his presence and his music. They always came together 

 for the dog hairs. Often he would perch on a tall stump beside the 

 walk, and watch her while she worked, singing with the greatest 

 energy." 



A. H. Miller (pers. comm.) tells me the female "builds the nest 

 although, as in so many cases where this is true, it is not unheard 

 of that the male may toy a bit with material; but I have no evidence 

 that he gathers up a substantial amount of material and goes and 

 puts it in the nest." 



Nesting begins early along the Pacific coast and at lower elevations. 

 Birds farther north, or at higher elevations and in the interior nest 

 at later dates. H. B. Kaeding (1899) writes: "During the summer 

 juncos may be found up as high as 10,000 feet in the Sierras, but not 

 as a rule lower than 3,000 feet, breeding. The breeding dates vary 

 with the altitude and eggs may be found at 4,000 feet in May and 

 as late as July 15 fresh eggs have been taken at 9,000 feet altitude." 



In the vicinity of Portland, Oreg., Griffee and Rapraeger (1937) 

 give April 22 as the earliest date, June 8 as the latest date, and the 

 height of nesting season, when about 50 percent of the birds start 

 incubating, as April 28 to May 3. The earliest date Burleigh (1930) 

 recorded for the lowland Puget Sound area was May 9 — a nest with 

 four fresh eggs. At Coeur d'Alene, northern Idaho, Henry J. Rust 

 (1915) cites the following examples: "Pair noted gathering nest mate- 

 rial March 27; five nests, each containing five eggs, examined May 

 8; young able to fly, May 19; nest with five newly hatched young, 

 June 18; nest with five fresh eggs, June 27." 



The variation in dates suggests that Oregon juncos raise two broods 

 in a season. In this regard D. S. DeGroot (1934) writes: 



Early in July [1933] a pair of Juncos * * * was located feeding four half- 

 grown young in a beavitifully hidden nest in a crevice in a rock. These birds 

 were watched daily and the parents quite definitely identified by certain peculiar 

 markings and actions. On July 15 the young of this nest were out learning to 

 fly and three days later they had disappeared in so far as I could ascertain. Two 

 days later the female was seen carrying nesting material and on July 29 she was 

 flushed from her new nest which at that time contained two fresh eggs. This 

 nest was located not twenty-five feet from the first one and was similar in many 

 respects although it was placed in a patch of skunk cabbage instead of a rock 

 crevice, as in the first case. On August 3, the nest contained four eggs and the 

 female was sitting. On the 16th the eggs had hatched and at this writing [August 

 26, 1933] the young are about ready to fly. Another nest of this species was 

 located in the same area at about the same time and similar observations were 

 made, thus confirming my suspicion that this species is one which nests rather 

 commonly twice each season. 



I have not been able to find other confirmation in the literature of 

 A. W. Anthony's (1886) claim that in Washington County, Oreg., 



