738 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Range. —Breeds in Boreal Rocky Mountain region from interior of British 
Columbia east to central western Alberta, and south to southern Oregon, winters 
over entire Rocky Mountain tableland, in southern British Columbia, Montana, 
Utah, and eastern Colorado south to western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Chihua¬ 
hua, and Sonora; casual in northern Lower California. 
State Records. —Of the Juncos which do not breed in New Mexico but come 
from the north to winter in the State, the Shufeldt is probably the most common. 
It was first noted September 18, 1904, at Lake La Jara, 7,500 feet (Bailey). By the 
first of October, 1908, it was the commonest of the Juncos noted in the Chuska Moun¬ 
tains, being present in flocks of thousands (Birdseye), and ranging from 9,000 feet 
on the top of the mountains down to 5,000 feet at Shiprock and the San Juan Valley, 
where the species was equally common through October and November. It was 
abundant the latter part of October, 1908, in the Mogollon Mountains from 7,000- 
10,000 feet; apparently about as common as dorsalis, these two species together out¬ 
numbering all other birds combined (Goldman). In early November, 1906, shu- 
feldti and meamsi were the commonest Juncos seen in the Gila Valley at Cliff, 5,000 
feet; shufeldti was found November 28, 1889, at Doming (Bailey). 
But notwithstanding the enormous numbers of this species in western New 
Mexico, it is not so numerous in the eastern part of the State. It was found at Las 
Vegas Hot Springs December 12, 1882 (Batchelder); at Albuquerque ten were 
reported December 25, 1902 (Harman); and at Arroyo Seco it was the commonest 
wintering Junco (Surbcr); in the Guadalupe Mountains it was abundant above 4,000 
feet, January, 1915; [a small flock was seen in Carlsbad, December, 1916 (Willett)]; 
but on the east slope of the Manzano Mountains it was very rare (Gaut). 
The last one noted in 1889 at Cooney was on April 19, and in 1890 at Carlisle 
on April 17 (Barrell). 
The type of Junco hyemalis shufeldti Coale 1 was collected at Fort Wingate 
October 13, 1885.—W. W. Cooke. 
General Habits. —One of Mr. Jensen’s banded Shufeldt Juncos, 
No. 28721, nesting in the Boreal Rocky Mountain region, perhaps as far 
north as British Columbia, has returned for three years to winter, not 
merely in New Mexico, but actually in the same place—the campus of 
the Indiau School of Santa Fe. Banded December 1, 1922, it was re¬ 
taken, on its return from the north, February 14 (and 22, and March 
15), 1923; after another nesting season, December 13, 1923; again De¬ 
cember 7 (10, 18, 23), 1924; and finally February 17, 1926. 
Another Shufeldt Junco, No. 151657, acquired the trap or “easy 
food” habit. Banded on December 28, 1924, it was retaken the fol¬ 
lowing day and on all but six days during January, when, as Mr. Jensen 
says, with patient reticence, it “was taken as often as six times a day” 
(MS). 
MONTANA JUNCO: Junco oreganus montanus Ridgway 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 5.5-6 inches, wing 3-3.3, tail 2.6-2.S, bill 
.4. Female: Length (skins) 5.2-5.7 inches, wing 2.9-3, tail 2.S-2.6, bill .4. Adult 
male: Head f neck , and chest, slate-color, lores blackish; back and scapulars dull light 
brown; sides pale pinkish brown, belly white, tail with two outer pairs of feathers 
1 Coalc, H. K., Description of a New Subspecies of Junco from New Mexico, Auk, IV, 330-331, 
1887. 
