GRAY-HEADED JUNCO 1113 



interscapular region; * * * tips of feathers grayish * * *. Lores and ocular 

 region black, contrasting with neutral gra3''s of head. Sides gray without line of 

 demarcation separating them from upper breast. Tail always with two, and 

 usually three, outer feathers partly or completely white. * * * 



Sexual diflcrcntiation in plumage slight. Females average slightly lighter in 

 colors of head and side in race canice-ps only. Fourth rectrix more often pure 

 black, fifth and sixth rectrices less often pure white in females than in males. 

 Degree of sexual differentiation in rectrices variable, depending on population 

 involved. * * * Females often have traces of buff on tips of feathers of sides, 

 and reddish- or buff-tipped wing coverts. A distinctive immature or retarded 

 plumage not recognizable; occasionally young males have buff-tipped sides, and 

 this feature predominates in young females. 



The red of the back alters with the season, becoming brighter and yellower to 

 approach burnt sienna and Sanford's brown. The gray tips are worn off early, 

 but this do(>s not seem to affect the tone of color importantly. Brightening is 

 not pronounced until late April, but in the succeeding six weeks the greatest 

 alteration takes place. * * * The grays of the head pale slightly, so that the 

 mass effect in worn plumage is that of lighter hood, except in the extreme state of 

 wear of midsummer, when exposure of the basal downy barbules gives a sooty 

 appearance. 



For J. c. caniceps, Miller (1941b) continues: "Features present in 

 all individuals that distinguish them from J. c. dorsalis are: (1) 

 darker neutral gray (light neutral gray and neutral gray) of hood, 

 especially that of throat, and (2) flesh-colored upper mandible," 

 Miller also states that measurements of caniceps tail, bill, tarsus and 

 middle toe average slightly less than those of dorsalis, and the "amount 

 of white in the tail averages less." He says further, of caniceps: 

 "Reddish color of variable extent is not uncommon on the pileum. It 

 appears in all populations. In the total of 772 J. c. caniceps examined, 

 48, or 6.21 percent, have some feathers distinctly red, not merely buff 

 tipped." Of dorsalis, he adds: "Red on the pileum occurs in 1.7 per- 

 cent, compared with G.2 percent in caniceps and 1.7 percent in palliatus. 



I have seen in Colorado in early spring a caniceps with the entire 

 pileum red, much like that of the chipping sparrow {Spizella passerina) 

 in extent. Rockwell and Wetmore (1914) mention an "immature 

 female [caniceps, taken in November, with] a rufous line on each side 

 of the crown," and another female with "faint rusty tips to the feathers 

 on the occipital and nuchal regions." 



A regular but infrequent variation within dorsalis is the appearance 

 of the mahogany red of the back "on the outer webs of the inner 

 secondaries and greater secondary coverts," which appeared in 9, or 

 3.9 percent, of the 230 spechnens Miller examined (19411)). This 

 feature suggests affinity to phaeonotus, but places of its occurrence are 

 not related to proximity to the range of that species. A. R. Phillips 

 (MS.) at Flagstaff in March 1936, banded "a remarkably red bird 

 [dorsalis], the color of the back invading much of the body — to be 

 specific, the sides broadly tinged, the crown somewhat so, the second- 



