132 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



singer, especially of the early evening, and its notes have 

 great variety. 



Length, 5| ; wing, 2i (2|-2|) ; tail, 2| ; culmen, i Eastern United 

 States and soutliern Canada ; breeding from Soutli Carolina nortliward, 

 and wintering from Illinois and Virginia soutliward. 



35. Slate-colored Junco (567. Junco hyemcllis). — A small, 

 slate-colored, winter bird, with white belly and under tail 

 feathers, and flesh-colored bill. The slate color 

 of the breast abruptly changes to the white 

 )f the belly. This very common and easily 

 leiognized bird of the snowy season is 

 usually found in flocks of twenty to 

 thirty in the fields and among the 

 bushes. "When it flies, the white 

 of the under tail feathers is 

 readily seen. (Junco ; 

 Snow-bird; Black 

 Snow-bird.) 



Length, 6 ; wing, 3 

 (2J-3J) ; tail, 2| ; tarsus, 

 Slate-colored Jraco I ; culmen, J nearly. 



North America mainly 

 east of the Rocky Mountains; breeding among the higher parts of the 

 Alleghanies and other moautains northward, and wintering throughout. 

 The Carolina Junco (561". J. h. caroUiiensis) differs in having a darker 

 colored bill and the back without any show of brownish, which can always 

 be noticed on the common Junco. It is a common resident variety of 

 the mountains of Virginia, North and South Carolina. A much browner 

 variety than even the common one is Shufeldt's Junco (567''. J. h. con- 

 nectens). In this the sides are almost a wine-brown. This belongs to the 

 region from the Rocky Mountains westward, but has been seen in a num- 

 ber of the Eastern States, Massachusetts, Maryland, etc. The White- 

 winged Junco (666. Junco aikeni) has two very distinct white wing bars. 

 It breeds in the Black Hills, and in winter is found south to Colorado. 



36. Bachman's Sparrow (675*. Peuccea cestivdlis bachmdnii). 

 — A streaky, brownish-red-backed sparrow with the lower parts 

 grayish-buff, deepest on the breast and almost white on the 



