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) 0.18—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. , J , 
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 
on head in male and washed with brownish in imma¬ 
ture male and female, when the sides are also washed 
with pinkish brown ; two pairs of outer tail feathers 
white; bill in life pinkish white or flesh-color. Young 
in first plumage: streaked on brown upper parts, and 
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 
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. 
Fig. 435. 
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, 
