124 THE SHUPELDT JUNCO: 
nests have been found in old tin cans flung down upon the prairie and only 
half obscured by growing grasses. Again the birds trust to the density of 
vegetation, and shelter in the grass of unmowed orchards, weed-lots, and 
meadows. One site was found in which the bird occupied a carefully chosen 
fern arbor in the midst of a collection of whitened bones, evidently the mortal 
remains of a defunct draft horse. The situation was delightfully gruesome, 
Taken in Whatcom County. 
Photo by the Author. 
NEST AND EGGS OF 
SHUFELDT JUNCO. 
and, touched no doubt with vanity, the owner sat for her portrait at four 
feet, a la Bernhardt. 
Juncoes keep very quiet during the nesting season until disturbed, and 
they are very close sitters. When nearly stepped on the bird bursts off, and, 
if there are young, crawls and tumbles along the ground within a few feet 
of the intruder, displaying wings and tail in a most appealing manner. The 
tssiks of both birds are incessantly repeated, and the whole woodside is set 
agog with apprehension. 
If one posts himself in a suspected locality not too near the nest, it is 
only a question of time till the solicitude of the nursing mother will triumph 
over fear. One such I traced to a charming mossy bank, overlooking a 
