General notes. 
Junco hyemalis in Eastern Massachusetts in June.— On May 23, 1891, 
I was much surprised to find a male Snowbird ( Junco hyemalis ) feeding 
in a pasture at some distance from my home, in company with two Chip- 
ping Sparrows ( Sfizella socialis). On May 27 he was in the same pas- 
ture, again in company with two Chippers. Owing to the distance, my 
next visit to the place was on June 7, when I found things going on as 
before. Evidently the Snowbird intended to spend the summer there. 
June 13 Mr. Bradford Torrey accompanied me, and we then found the 
Junco engaged in feeding young birds in a nest looking exactly like a 
typical Chipping Sparrow’s nest, placed in the crotch of a small limb of a 
red cedar some twelve feet from the ground. After waiting a few minutes 
we saw a female Chipper feed the same young, and then the case waxed 
exceedingly interesting, for it seemed to be one of interbreeding between 
birds of different genera. To our disappointment, however, a male Chip- 
per finally appeared, who showed much interest in subsequent proceed- 
ings. But he never once brought food, while the Snowbird and female 
Chipper did so constantly. Any casual observer would undoubtedly 
have declared them the parents of the brood. When, at last, I climbed 
the tree to get a look at the young birds, Junco made far more protest than 
did either of the Sparrows; in short, during all our visit, he behaved pre- 
cisely as the father of the young birds would naturally do. 
Of course we decided to obtain the young when they should become of 
proper size and plumage. But this proved impracticable. The birds got 
out of the nest, and although I with others saw the Snowbird feed them 
repeatedly after this, we were unable to get one of them lor examination. 
Tt must be said, however, that, so far as we could observe with the aid of 
a good glass, they looked exactly like ordinary young Chipping Spar- 
rows. 
Junco remained in the same vicinity during all of June, being seen on 
several dates, as also being heard to sing freely ; he was also seen July 14. 
Whenever seen he was invariably accompanied by several Chippers, prob- 
ably the two adults and the family of young. In August I sought him 
vainly. Repeated search failed to reveal him, and at last I gave up the 
quest. 
The gist of the story is this : Junco hyemalis haunted one field in this 
town from late in May until the middle of July; during part of this time 
he assisted in feeding a brood of young Chipping Sparrows. Whether he 
was the real father or only the godfather of these young Sparrows is an 
interesting question which, I deeply regret ta say, I cannot answer. — E. F. 
Holden, Melrose , Mass. Auk| Q> j an . 18 9 2> p> /J • /J 
Possible Breeding of Junco hyemalis in Essex County, Mass. — On 
Sept. 2, 1905, I saw at Boxford, Mass., a young Junco in the juvenal 
plumage, with streaked back, breast, and belly. The bird was not taken, 
but I watched it for five minutes, part of the time within ten feet, and 
fully identified it. Dr. C. W. Townsend (Birds of Essex County) men- 
tions seeing a Junco at Groveland, Mass, (just north of Boxford), Sept. 3, 
1904, but he tells me that it was identified from an electric car, and he 
does not know whether it was an adult or an immature bird. These 
dates are much earlier than any migration dates known to me. Messrs. 
Howe and Allen (Birds of Massachusetts) give Sept. 18 as the earliest 
fall date, and Dr. Townsend gives Sept. 26 for Essex County. As far as 
I can learn, moreover, the Junco has never been taken in the first plumage 
at any distance from its breeding grounds, and Dr. G. M. Allen writes 
me that he has no breeding records for this bird from Southeastern New 
Hampshire. It is almost impossible, too, that the Boxford bird could 
have been one of the brood raised in the Middlesex Fells last summer, 
and recorded by Mr. It. S. Eustis in this number of ‘The Auk’, for Box- 
ford is some eighteen miles. from that locality and nearly due north. All 
these facts seem to point to the conclusion that the Junco may prove to 
be at least an occasional, thought doubtless an extremely rare, breeder 
in Eastern Massachusetts. — Francis H. Allen, West Roxbury, Mass. 
JkBk. XXlil, Jan., 1906 , 
