1088 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 2 



the * * * races separately, but as many of the stomachs were col- 

 lected before the races were recognized, their exact identity is 

 unknown." 



Behavior. — Apart from the nesting season when the birds are in 

 pairs, Point Pinos Oregon juncos associate together in small flocks. 

 These are quite possibly family groups. Grinnell and Linsdale (1936) 

 note the juncos on the Point Lobos reserve in small flocks or groups 

 of four or five, six or more, 12 or more, and other such numbers. 

 While they mention a "flock of about 25" and a "scattered flock of 

 50," most of their references are to small flocks. They cite examples 

 of small flocks or groups feeding at the margin of a roadway or meadow, 

 scattered on moist ground covered with fine litter in shade beneath 

 cypresses, or feeding on ground close to and beneath a pile of brush 

 at the edge of the pine woods. They add: "From these and other 

 records it was apparent that factors prominently important in account- 

 ing for the occurrence of juncos [at Point Lobos] were the open nature 

 of the ground, the large proportion of the area in which shade was 

 afforded, and the trees and tall shrubs which provided refuge, roosting 

 places, and singing perches." In the San Francisco Bay regron, 

 Grinnell and Wythe (1927) state this form: "Forages and nests in 

 groves of planted evergreen trees and native redwoods; comes famil- 

 iarly about dwellings." A. H, Miller (pers. comm.) writes me: 

 ''Pinosus does tend to stay on or very close to its nesting territory, 

 and I have never seen it form very large flocks, but it will mix in with 

 wintering flocks of other races of Oregon juncos here locally and 

 certainly is not as solitary and non-flocking as is Junco phueonotus." 



Concerning the habit of the Point Pinos Oregon juncos of nesting 

 in trees Grinnell and Linsdale (1936) remark: "It was noted at 

 nearly all the nests in trees that the adults showed less concern and 

 less reluctance to go to the nest when a person stood near the site 

 than did most of the ground-nesting pairs." Regarding interspecific 

 behavior, they report an instance of a junco pursuing two pileoated 

 warblers (Wilsonia pnsilla pileolata) and of a male junco driving a 

 green-backed goldfinch (Spinus psaltria hesperophilus) from the bough 

 holding a nest with young. 



Reports of juncos catching insects in the air or flycatching have 

 been reported for other races. GrinneU and Linsdale (1938) write: 

 "A junco was seen several times on May 1, catching insects in the 

 air. Again on October 12, in the evening, several were flycatching 

 for large termites." 



W. Otto Emerson (1905) had to have a large eucalyptus tree re- 

 moved that had grown on hb place for many years. At dusk he 

 noticed many small birds, among them Point Pinos Oregon juncos, 

 Audubon warblers (Dendroica auduhoni), and white-crowned sparrows 



