346 FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



abruptly white belly ; wings usually with two white bars and tail with three 

 outermost feathers almost wholly white. Adult female : similar, but 

 paler, upper parts tinged with brownish ; wing bars less distinct, often 

 obsolete. Young : entire body profusely streaked ; under parts with 

 whitish ground. Male: length (skins) 6.18-6.69, wing 3.21-3.66, tail 

 2.96-3.10, bill .46-.51. Female: length (skins) 5.89-6.62, wing 3.19-3.32, 

 tail 2.80-3.00, bill .45-. 49. 



Remarks. This is the only junco with white wing bars, and there is 

 only one other in the west in which back and chest are of the same color. 



Distribution. Breeds in northwestern Nebraska, the Black Hills, North 

 Dakota, and Wyoming ; migrates to Colorado and Kansas ; casually to 

 Indian Territory. 



Nest. On the ground, usually near canyon bottoms, made of grass, lined 

 with grass and hair. Eggs : greenish white, lightly spotted with reddish 

 brown and lavender. 



The white- winged junco winters in Colorado from the Plains to 

 an altitude of 8000 feet in the mountains, where Professor Cooke 

 finds it the commonest winter junco. 



567. Junco hyemalis (Linn.). SLATE-COLORED JUNCO. 



Adults. Whole body, except white belly, dark slaty gray, often blackish 



.^1^. on head in male and washed with brownish in irnma- 



*|^ ttire male and female, when the sides are also washed 



Ilk with pinkish brown ; < wo pairs of outer tail feathers 



^^k white ; bill in life pinkish white or flesh-color. Young 



jS^L. * n fi rs t plumage : streaked on brown upper parts, and 



Wp|MP^ buffy white under parts, wings with brownish band. 



Male : length (skins) 5.44-6.23, wing 3.02-3.24, tail 2.49- 



2.80, bill .40-.46. Female: length (skins) 5.22-6.10, wing 



Fig. 435. 2.78-3.08, tail 2.45-2.64, bill .39-.46. 



Distribution. Breeds in Transition and Canadian zones of North 

 America, chiefly east of the Rocky Mountains, and south in the mountains 

 of northeastern United States to Pennsylvania ; winters south to the Gulf 

 States ; casual in Arizona and California ; straggling to Siberia. 



Nest. Usually on the ground, rather bulky, composed largely of 

 dried grass stems and rootlets, lined with softer materials. Eggs: usu- 

 ally 4 or 5, white, greenish, or buffy, speckled with reddish brown. 

 Food. Insects and weed seed. 



Juncos are foresters or mountaineers who are driven down from 

 the mountains into the mild valleys when the severe snows come. 

 In this way the Sierra species spends the winter in the parks and 

 cemeteries of San Francisco. Others come from the far north and 

 go on to spend their winters in the south. Several species winter 

 in the Great Basin country. Some members of the west coast con- 

 tingency spread out over the interior valleys or even go to such 

 popular resorts as Pasadena, where they hop about over the ground 

 under the pepper-trees as if finding the pink aromatic berries a feast 

 spread to their taste. 



When seen away from home, or at any time except the nesting 

 season, they are quiet, social birds, always sitting around in flocks, 



