GRAY-HEADED JTNCO 1109 



"Abundant. IMost common at 8,000 feet, breeding in clumps of 

 scrub-oak on liillsides" in north central New Mexico. E. C. Jacot 

 (MS.) describes an Arizona dorsalis nest found June 7, 1935, by 

 Mrs. Jacot "in a thicket of 3- to 4-foot yellow pines; the nest was 

 hidden near the foot of one of the small pines. It was composed 

 almost entirely of very fine rootlets and some grass." One found in 

 the same locality, Aug. 13, 1937 by Hustace H. Poor (MS.) near a 

 stream was in a "dark, shady site under broad-leafed weeds." 



Like the other j uncos, the gray-headed sometimes nests off the 

 ground. W. W. Cooke (1900) says of caniceps: "Breeds abundantly 

 at Breckenridge [Colorado], and in 1898 one nested there under the 

 eaves of Mr. [EdAnn] Carter's house." One caniceps nest of 24 found 

 by D. D. Stone (1884) in Colorado was "placed in a small pine, three 

 feet from the ground, in a heavy bunch of timber." A note filed at 

 the museum at Grand Canyon National Park, by K. Wing, June 5, 

 1950, mentions a nest "in the rafters of the cafeteria porch" at the 

 North Rim of the Canyon. Lyndon L. Hargrave (1936) teUs of a 

 dorsalis "nest in vines under the eaves of the house" at the Museum 

 of Northern Arizona at Flagstaff in 1934. Unpublished notes by 

 Hargrave and others at the museum mention a later nest at the same 

 location "in vine, northwest corner of patio," about 8 feet above 

 the ground. Not only was this nest unusual in its location, but it 

 was used several times: in 1937 (probably) ; in 1938, number of broods 

 not knoMTi; in 1939, two broods; and in 1940, two broods. After the 

 second brood left in 1940, a second nest, in which the third brood of 

 that season was raised, was built on a roof plate "one foot over and 

 tAvo up" (note by Katherine Bartlett) from the first nest. 



Although there seems to be no definite proof of caniceps raising more 

 than one brood in a season, the many late nestings indicate that it 

 probably raises at least two. As N. F. Hadley (MS.) comments: 

 "The long period over which nests are found in Colorado suggests 

 second broods are attempted whenever possible. The number of 

 broods raised probably depends on how early the first nesting begins 

 and the weather conditions when the second brood is to be started. 

 If the first nesting is not successful, caniceps will attempt a second 

 brood, as we observed several times. In each case the second nest 

 was near the site of the first and built under a similar shelter, that is 

 if the first nest was under a lodgepole seedUng, so usually was the 

 second." 



Of dorsalis, however, we have Hargrave's (1936) detailed record, 

 mentioned above, of the raising of three broods. Following is his 

 summary, in part: 



The summer's observations on breeding Red-backed Juncos at Coyote Range, 

 Flagstaflf, Arizona, have shown (1) that the male probably wintered within his 



