60 [ THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA THOMPSON. 



liidmg- places; both species at first uttered a little "peet" from time 

 to time, but wheu the weather became warmer two sougs were repeat- 

 edly heard from the Hock; one a sweetly varied strain from the Tree 

 Sparrow, the other a twittering something like the ditty of the hair- 

 bird, but stronger and more bell-like in the tone. This is the soug of 

 the JuMCO ; whether it has or has not a more ambitious refrain reserved 

 for the far away secluded dells of its birth I can not yet say. 



About the middle of May, all the Juncos and Tree Sparrows disap- 

 pear; not one remains; all go to the far north to breed. Even in the 

 Duck Mountain, I saw not a single specimen during the summer. 



Towards the end of September these two species return to the Big 

 Plain, in mixed tlocks as before, and continue about for a week or two, 

 but ready to tly at the first intimation of really cold weather or snow. 



This is the only species of our common sparrows that, when adult, 

 entirely discard the streaked plumage, and the fact is perhaps duo to 

 its choice of breeding locality, for it alone frequents wooded hillsides, 

 while its near relations are all found nesting more or less in grassy 

 places, where their streaked plumage affords them a means of conceal- 

 ment. 



The Towhee exemplifies a similar specialization; as its adult plu- 

 mage more nearly assimilates it to the leaf-strewn ground where it 

 lives, than would the streaky plumage of i:s youth. 



About the second week iu September the snowbirds or Jnucos {Junco hyemnlifi) 

 began to become abundant about Carberry aud remained so for at least a month. 

 (Christy.) 



200. Junco hyemalis shufeldti. Shufeldt's Junco. 



This form accompanies hyemalis in the migrations at Carberry 

 (Thompson). 



201. Melospiza fasciata. Song Sparrow. 



Summer resident; chiefly in woods along water courses. One speci- 

 men, Turtle Mountain (Cones). Winnipeg: Summer resident; abun- 

 dant (Hine). Southern shore of Lake Winnipeg; breeding (Kennicott). 

 Norway House (Bell, 1880). Oak Point: 1884, arrived April 11; 1885, 

 first seen, one, on April 13; next seen on April 15; is common and 

 breeds here (Small). Portage la Prairie: Common summer resident; 

 arrives about April C; departs October 1; December 30, 1885, I found 

 one wintering about the stables on a farm at Burnside ; he seemed very 

 happy, and sang as if his surroundings suited him (Nash). Common at 

 Lake Manitoba in 1881 and on the prairies iu brushy places near 

 water; nearly always fall in the water when shot (Macoun). Car- 

 berry: Scarce; summer resident ; breeding; Portage la Prairie, more 

 common; breeding west side of Duck Mountain ; breeding, Rat Portage, 

 in October (Thompson). Shell River : 1885, first seen, five, on April 18; 

 seen every day afterwards, becoming common on April 28; common 



