46 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



darker on head ; lower breast, abdomen, anal region, 

 and under tail-coverts, white; six middle tail-leathers, 

 slate-blackish, edged with slate grayish ; hco outermost 

 tail-feathers zi'hite; bill, pinkish; iris, dark reddish 

 brown or claret-purple. Adult Female ; Similar to 

 adult male, but the slate-color rather lighter ( some- 

 times decidely so). Young (First Plumage) : Above, 

 grayish brown or drab (sometimes slightly rufescent on 

 back), rather broadly streaked with blackish; chin, 

 throat, chest, sides, and flanks, pale dull buffy or buffy 

 grayish, spotted or broadly streaked (except on chin) 

 with dusky ; rest of under parts white, the breast 

 usually spotted or flecked with dusky. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Usually placed on the 

 ground, under a tuft of grass or weeds, sometimes in 



rock crevices, or upturned tree roots ; constructed 

 mostly of dried grasses, thickly lined with hair. fur. and 

 feathers. Eggs : 4 or 5, white or greenish-white, 

 spotted with rufous-brown. 



Distribution. — Breeding from mountains of Penn- 

 sylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, Ontario, cen- 

 tral Michigan, northern Minnesota, northward to 

 Labrador, western shores of Hudson Bay, and through 

 the interior to the Arctic coast and westward to valleys 

 of the Yukon and Kowak rivers, Alaska; migrating 

 southward in winter to Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 

 Texas, Arizona, and California, straggling (?) to 

 Point Barrow and coast of Bering Sea (Kotzebue 

 Sound, St. Michaels, etc.), and to eastern Siberia 

 (Tschuctschi Peninsula). 



The scientists have taken liold of our old 

 friend the Common Snowbird and done so many 

 things to him that ordinary bird observers and 

 the scientists themselves are quite distracted. 

 First they are disputing over the various races 

 of Snowbirds, not sure just how many different 

 species and varieties to list. They liave agreed 

 npon the scientific name " Junco " for the w hole 



Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



SLATE-COLORED JUNCO >\ nat. size) 

 A sprightly and welcome winter visitor 



group or genus and imposed that I.atin name 

 upon the Englisli-speaking world as the com- 

 mon name in place of Snowbird. Maybe the 

 children of the newer generation will look out 

 of the windows on a Christmas morning and say 

 " Oh, see the Junco s ! " but the charm of the 

 word " Snowbird " seems to be more worth 

 while in childhood and in poetry at least. Bird 



students are taking very kindly to the new name 

 but no one seems to know how it started and 

 what it means. Coues says that it is derived 

 from the Latin jiiiiciis meaning a seed. It was 

 after 1830 that the word "Junco" was first 

 brought into scientific use. 



This is a true winter bird indeed. He remains 

 about his breeding range late into the fall and 

 often goes only a little way to warmer climates 

 when the food supply falls short farther north. 

 The white-edged tail and hood-like coloring of 

 the head makes the bird quite distinctive, and as 

 we see him in the winter his coloring makes him 

 very attractive against the snow or the ever- 

 greens. He is a tamer, more genial bird to us 

 than is that other Snowbird, the White Snow- 

 bird or Snowflake that stays far afield in all 

 kinds of weather. This Black Snowbird comes 

 near the barns and kitchen doors, dodges in and 

 out of the bushes in the garden, chatters cheerily 

 in the wild cherry and thorn bushes, lisps his 

 characteristic tsip from stone piles and stub- 

 ble rows, and as spring comes, sings from 

 the bushes and shorter trees his low, sweet song 

 which Mrs. Bailey says is " as unpretentious and 

 cheery as the friendly bird itself." And in early 

 spring off he goes for the breeding grounds, 

 often reaching there weeks before the nesting 

 can begin. 



The Junco is one of the most common Spar- 

 rows of .'America. In migration he vies in ntim- 

 bers with the other song birds, often being seen 

 by the hundreds wherever there is shelter and 

 food. In the breeding territory he chooses the 

 cool and sheltered, and often damper localities. 

 He breeds commonly in the Adirondacks. But 

 farther south, any motmtainous region or valley 

 that is almost cold throughout the summer may 



