BAIRD'S JUNCO 1135 



hopped about bis feet, imder tbe table, or pecked at the dried venison 

 suspended from the roof." 



These juncos apparently stay close to the ground, often taking 

 advantage of the lower, bare hmbs of pines or oaks for perches. 

 Chester Lamb's observations were consistently of bu-ds "feeding on 

 the ground," "perched on a low bare twig in an oak seedhng," or 

 "on an old stump among some brush." They readily responded to 

 "squeaking." After a day of intermittent sliowers in early August, 

 Lamb wrote: "Dming these rains all the birds but the Baird juncos 

 and large-biUed towhees [Pijnlo erythrophthalmus magnirosiris] dis- 

 appear, but these bu'ds can be seen at the edge of the meadows busily 

 feeding during most of the storms." In mid-December, after noting 

 observations of birds apparently singly rather than in flocks, he 

 summarized that they were "common, but very shy and retiring at 

 this time of year." 



On May 22, 1965, seven juncos were foraging together in a space 

 about 30 by 30 feet in the meadow, near a small group of pines. There 

 was one encounter which seemed to enforce indi\ddual distance. 

 When distm-bed by my approach, they flew to a small pine where, 

 after some initial squabbles in finding places, they remained quietly 

 together. Despite the tendency for gregariousness, there were 

 numerous chases dm-ing May that seemed to enforce territorial 

 boundaries. One bird was involved in two such chases \\ithin a few- 

 minutes, about 40 yards apart. 



On one occasion, a bird sitting in an oak flicked its wings rapidly 

 when alarmed. 



Baird's juncos remain in A\dnter in the highest part of their breeding 

 range, "Apparently there are no winter flocks of any proportion, tlie 

 birds staying close to the nesting gi'ounds * * *." (Miller, 1941b.) 

 No seasonal movements are kno^vn, 



Nesting. — Nesting apparently occm's in late spring and early 

 summer. Brewster (1902) says that Frazer found no nests in the 

 Sierra Laguna dm-ing his stay from late April to early June, but 

 "late in May a bird was seen collecting building material." At 

 Laguna Valley, at 6,000 feet elevation, Chester Laml) found nests 

 in many stages dm-ing July, 1929, and was led to believe that the 

 birds nest twice. On July 7, 12, and 15, he found nests with "heavily 

 incubated" eggs, and on JiJy 8 he "saw one carrying nesting material 

 in its bill." Thayer (1909) mentions that W. W. Brown was too 

 late for eggs of this species when he reached the mountains on August 

 2. Dependent young have been recorded from June 12 to July 17 

 (Miller et al., 1957), but the dependent period must extend into early 

 August. 



646-737 — 68— pt. 2 35 



