584 NORTH AMEraCAN BIRDS. 



Junco hy emails, vai. alkenl, Pi mow ay. 



WHITE-WINGED SNOWBIRD. 



Sp. Char. Generally similar to J. Injemalis^ but considerably larger, with more robust 

 bill ; two white bands on the wing, and three, instead of two, outer tail-feathers entirely 

 white. No. 61,302 ^, El Paso Co., Colorado,, December 11, 1871, C. E. Aiken : Head, 

 neck, jugulum, and entire upper parts clear ash ; the back with a bluish tinge ; the lores, 

 quills, and tail-feathers darker; middle and secondary wing-coverts rather broadly tipped 

 with white, forming two conspicuous bands. Lower part of the breast, abdomen, and 

 crissum pure white, the anterior outline against the ash of the jugulum convex ; sides 

 tinged Avith ash. Tliree lateral tail-feathers entirely white, the third, however, Avith a 

 narrow streak of dusky on the terminal third of the outer web; the next feather mostly 

 plumbeous, with the basal fourth of the outer web, and the terminal half of the inner, along 

 the shaft, white. Wing, 3.40 ; tail, 3.20 ; culmen, .50 ; depth of bill at base, .30 ; tarsus, .80. 



Hab. El Paso County, Colorado. 



At first siglit, tliis Ijird appears to be a very distinct species, being larger 

 than any other North American form, and possessing in the white bands on 

 the wing characters entirely peculiar. Its large size, however, we can at- 

 tribute to its alpine habitat, agreeing in this resjject, as compared with J. 

 lirjcmcdis, with the J. alticolct of Guatemala, which we can only consider an 

 alpine or somewhat local form of J. cinereus. That the white bands on the 

 wing do not constitute a character sufficiently important to be considered of 

 specific value is proved by the fact that in many specimens of J. oregonus, 

 and occasionally in J. hycmalis, there is sometimes quite a distinct tendency 

 to these bands in the form of obscure white tips to the coverts. 



Habits. Rut little is known as to the habits of this variety ; probably 

 they do not differ from those of its congeners. It was met with by Mr. 

 C. E. Aiken, near Fountain, El Paso County, in Colorado Territory, in the 

 winter of 1871 - 72. Tliey were rare in the early winter, liecame rather 

 common during the latter part of February and the first of March, and had 

 all disappeared by tlie first of April. During winter only males were seen, 

 but, in the spring, the females were the most numerous. They were usually 

 seen singly, or in companies of two or three, and not, like the others, in 

 larger flocks. 



Junco oregonus, Sclater. 



OREGON SNOWBIRD. 



Fringilla orcgona, Townsend, J. A. N. Sc. VII, 1837, 188. —1b. Narrative, 1839, 345.— 

 AuD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 68, pi. cccxeviii. Struihus oregonus, Bon. List, 1838. — Ib. 

 Consp. 1850, 475. — Newberry, Zool. Cal. & Or. Route ; Rep. P. R. E. VI, iv, 1857, 

 88. Niphceaoregmia, Ai'i). Syn. 1839, 107.— Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 91, pi. clxviii. 



— Cab. Mus. Heiu. 1851, 134. Jimco oregonus, Sclater, Pr. Zobl. Soc. 1857, 7. — 

 Baird, Bh-ds N. Am. 1858, 466. — Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 120 (British Columbia). 



— Cooper & Suckley, 202. — Coues; Pr. Phil. Ac. 1866, 85 (Arizona). — Dall & 



