1128 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 2 



"In a typical mating display, while a pair of j uncos were feeding, 

 the male flared out his tail and strutted around the female, alternately 

 dragging his tail feathers on the ground and holding them upright 

 from his body at a 45° angle. I watched one male strut with spread 

 tail up and down the horizontal Umb of a white pine, some 8 feet 

 above the female who was feeding below. As he strutted he uttered 

 a curious variation of the spring song. 



"Fighting that appeared to be linked with courtship was observed 

 rather frequently. Once when a pair of j uncos was calmly feeding 

 together, the male, on the ground, alternately feeding and singing to 

 the female, another male lit near by for a moment and then dove at 

 the male. The first male flew at the intruder, and both dropped to 

 the ground fighting savagely with feet and bills. Breaking apart for 

 a few seconds they faced each other defiantly with tails flared and 

 mouths agape. Joining in combat again they rose above the ground 

 in a miniature whirlwind of feathers while the female watched. 

 FinaUy the two males flew wildly off through the trees with the female 

 following. I saw this happen some five different times while we were 

 in the Chiricahua region." 



Herbert Brandt (1951) describes the same behavior thus: 



In spite of its delicate dress and quiet manner, this junco is a tenacious fighter, 

 settling its territorial disputes by locking bills with an opponent, rolling over and 

 over on the pine needles, with short pauses between so that both birds may regain 

 their breath. In one conflict behind our cabin, four j uncos, probably two pairs, 

 were seen on the ground; suddenly two birds flew at each other, and seizing hold, 

 rolled about, with first one then the other on its back, the paler underpart being 

 noticeably displayed. Finally a third bird, probably one of the females, flew 

 in on them as though to separate the disputants; then shortly, as if iiothing had 

 happened, they all resumed walking about in their peculiar stride. 



Nesting. — Almost all observers comment on the difficulty of finding 

 this j unco's nest, which is usuaUy revealed only by flushing the sitting 

 bird from it. As Brandt (1951) puts it, "to go into the field and 

 deliberately try to find a junco's nest by systematic search is about 

 as difficult a task as one would care to undertake, because the cradle 

 is usually so well concealed that only by good fortune would the 

 seeker be accidentally successful." 



Swarth (1904) states: "The nest is usually built upon the ground, 

 under a bunch of grass, a log, or as I have occasionally found it, 

 under a flat stone; but this is not invariably the case, as I have known 

 one or two instances of its being placed in some thick shrubbery, a 

 drooping pine limb, or a young fir, a foot or two above the ground." 

 F. C. Willard (1923) comments: 



Another bird which likes good solid ground under its nest is the Arizona 

 Junco * * * , yet I once found a set of incubated eggs fifteen feet up in a hole 

 in a dead pine branch * * * . a still more surprising find was a nest of one 



