240 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



GENUS JUNCO WAGLEE. 

 Junco hyemalis (LINN.). 



Slate-colored Junco ; Snow-bird ; Black Snow-bird. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 33. Fig. 8 and 4}. 



Length about 6| inches ; extent about 9^. 



Young in first plumage. Above blackish arid rusty-brown in numerous streaks ; 

 belly whitish, rest of lower parts profusely streaked with blackish and brownish ; 

 outer tail feathers white like adults ; maxilla blackish ; mandible paler about base, 

 but dark at tip. 



Habitat. North America at large, but chiefly east of the Rocky mountains, breed- 

 ing from the higher parts of the Alleghames and northern New York and northern 

 New England northward. South in winter to the Gulf States. 



The Snow-bird is a summer resident in nearly all the higher mountain 

 ranges in Pennsylvania, but in no section of the state have I ever seen 

 them as abundant in summer as they are along- the line of the Bradford, 

 Bordell and Kinzua railroad in McKean county, where their nests may 

 be seen, often within a few yards of each other, in the sides of the banks. 

 They are also common breeders at Kane, on the Philadelphia and 

 Erie railroad. Prof. August Kock has found the Junco breeding- 

 abundantly in June about Little Pine creek in Lycoming- county. 

 Late in September the Snow-birds retire from their summer resorts 

 and are found during- the winter months, and until about the mid- 

 dle of April, in the valleys and lowlands, particularly in the lower 

 half of the state. This well-known species can readily be recognized by 

 its whitish bill, the dark colored head, neck, back and throat, its white 

 under parts and the white lateral tail feathers, the latter being most 

 conspicuous when the bird is flying. Although these birds are found 

 in all places, they are most plentiful in bushes, along the banks of 

 streams, old weed-grown fields, fence rows and bushy tracts about the 

 margins of woods. The nest, composed of dried grasses, roots, etc., 

 lined with various soft materials, is placed on the ground. The eggs, 

 according to Dr. Coues, number " four or six, white, sprinkled with red- 

 dish and darker brown dots, about .80 by .60." During the fall, winter 

 and spring Snow-birds feed almost entirely on seeds of divers weeds and 

 grasses. Like the Chippy, this bird often is seen about houses, ready 

 to pick up crumbs, etc., which are thrown out. 



GENUS PASSER BRISSON. 

 Passer domesticus (LINN.). 



English Sparrow ; European House Sparrow. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 83. Figs. 1 and 2}. 



Male. Bill black, legs and feet brown ; above reddish brown, the back streaked 

 with black ; crown and under parts brownish ash ; chin and throat black ; white 

 wing-bar ; a large patch of chestnut on each side of head, commencing over and back 



