WHITE-WINGED JUNCO 1021 



and cactus also occurred. On May 30 he saw them feedmg under 

 bushes in the sand dunes and in open places among ice plants. The 

 birds would come to a bush top when alarmed by a squeak. Juve- 

 niles were common and these young birds banded together in flocks 

 of as many as a dozen individuals. 



Distribution 



The gray sage sparrow is resident on the Pacific shores of middle 

 Baja California from latitude 29° N., south to Ballenas Bay, lat. 

 26°40' N. 



JUNCO AIKENI Ridgway 



White -winged Junco 

 Contributed by Nathaniel Ruggles Whitney, Jr. 



Habits 



In the northern Great Plains, in western South Dakota and north- 

 eastern Wyoming, lies a mountain mass about 100 miles long and 

 75 miles wide, ranging in elevation from 3,500 feet to a few peaks 

 over 7,200 feet. These mountains, the Black Hills and Bear Lodge 

 Mountains, are the home of the white-winged junco, one of the most 

 numerous and conspicuous species of birds here and, during the 

 breeding season, practically limited to this region. 



The white-winged junco is the only bird species whose breeding 

 range is essentially limited to the Black Hills. It has, however, 

 close relatives to the west, north, and east. In Minnesota and 

 across Canada the slate-colored junco breeds in the spruce forest, 

 and in Wyoming various races of the Oregon junco breed in the 

 Big Horn Mountains and the main ranges of the Rockies. The 

 Black Hills are virtually an island of coniferous forest surrounded on 

 all sides by prairies, and this fact may account for the distinctness 

 of its junco population. 



AU the other characteristic breeding birds of the Black Hills pine 

 forests have fairly wide breeding ranges. Among them are such 

 Rocky Mountain species as Audubon's warbler and the western 

 tanager, which here reach the eastern limits of their breeding ranges, 

 and boreal forest species such as the gray jay and red-breasted 

 nuthatch, which reach the southern edge of their breeding range in 

 the Black Hills. Species of broad ecological tolerance such as 

 robin and chipping sparrow are also numerous here. 



Though the white-winged j uncos are most numerous in the Black 

 Hills pine forests, they are not limited to them. They may 

 also be found in spruce forests and in aspen stands. In winter they 



