1116 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 2 



Behavior. — Nesting gray-headed juncos, except when incubating 

 closely, generally take alarm readily and scold an intruder vigorously 

 with their characteristic, sharp, rapidly-repeated "tic" note, which 

 E. C. Jacot (MS.) describes as sounding "like snapping two nickels 

 together." A bird on the nest usually flushes only when nearly 

 stepped upon, and in most cases remains nearby, scolding loudly. 

 But an occasional one flushes silently and disappears until the in- 

 truder leaves. J. K. Jensen (1923) notes a New Mexico canicej)S 

 S. R. Hammitt found that "flew off the nest almost under his feet, 

 and although he waited patiently for more than an hour, it never 

 returned." Jensen adds, "I have several times seen the bii-ds building, 

 in which case the nests have always been abandoned." F. M. Bailey's 

 account of H. W. Henshaw's flushing from her nest a female that 

 "glided off tkrough the grass, fluttering about and feigning lameness" 

 is unusual. 



In an account of pine grosbeak breeding behavior in northeastern 

 Utah, Norman R. French (1954) writes: "A pair of Gray-headed 

 Juncos nested near the base of the same tree in which the grosbeaks 

 were nesting. The grosbeaks sometimes alighted low in the tree 

 and worked up to theu* nest. The juncos invariably came into the 

 tree and worked down to their nest. As a result the paths of the 

 birds sometimes crossed. When a junco was on a perch and one of 

 the grosbeaks came toward it the junco immediately flew, usually to a 

 lower perch in the tree." 



As mentioned previously, juncos wiU respond to "tic" notes made 

 with a pewter-and-wood bird-call in their breeding territories. Once, 

 in July, I used the call to attract mountain chickadees, unaware of 

 two or three fledgling juncos near by. The parent juncos responded 

 with \dgorous scolding to the "tic" call. Wintering juncos generally 

 ignore a call, but occasionaUy foraging mixed flocks, largely of Oregons, 

 wiU respond to one as readily as do chickadees or nuthatches. 



Although fau'ly tolerant of moderately arid conditions, the gray- 

 headed junco makes frequent use of available water. L. Hering 

 (1948) states that caniceps was one of six species of birds breeding in 

 Colorado pine "seen bathing in the creek." C. W. Stiilman (MS.) 

 records "A group of at least six [dorsalis] close to a spring and small 

 stream in bushes and grassland. Seen bathing in a stream" Aug. 5, 

 1937. A. R. Phillips "saw one or two bathing in Horse Creek," Nov. 

 22, 1936. 



Voice. — The voice of the gray-headed junco is in most respects 

 similar to that of the slate-colored junco as A. A. Saunders (1935) 

 describes it: 



The song of the junco is a very simple one. Normally it is a simple trill * * * or 

 a series of rapid notes all on the same pitch * * *. The number of notes, when 



