OUR WINTER BIRDS. 61 



albicolUs, Spizetta monticola, and Melospisa melodia. 

 The names of these actors are known throughout the 

 civilized world. All nations recognize the family name, 

 and often the specific name gives a clew to the charac- 

 ter: as hyemalis, our winter or snow bird; monticola, 

 a dweller in the mountains, where this species spends 

 its summers and rears its young; melodia, the sweet 

 songster, or song-sparrow. 



Junco hyemalis is excellent in dramatic performance. 

 Two of these actors meet face to face on the stage, in 

 their dark glossy coats, and each tries to make the oth- 

 er quail before his fixed gaze. Nearer and nearer they 

 come, constantly chattering and bowing, until within a 

 few inches of each other, when they elevate their heads 

 and bodies to a perfectly upright position, and chatter 

 vehemently with wide-open mouths. Sometimes one 

 of the actors leaves the stage at this juncture, and the 

 other remains; but generally they both withdraw and 

 have a trial of strength in the air. 



And now Zonotrichia albicollis comes forward in an- 

 other act. He is the most gorgeously attired and the 

 largest actor in the drama. The crown of his head is 

 black, bordered with white, and his full muffled throat 

 is pure white, sharply contrasting with the dark ash of 

 his breast. The back of his coat is striped with black, 

 chestnut, and fulvous white. He excels Junco in tragi- 

 comic performance. He opens the act with a prolonged 

 musical note, and flattens himself in front of a brother 

 actor, and spreads his tail fan-shaped. Faster and faster 



