Here in the springtime he soon gets full enough for utterance, and mounts the topmost sprig of a sage bush to voice his thanks. In general character the song is a sort of subdued musical croaking, mellow and rich at close quarters, but with little carrying power. The bird throws his head well back in singing, and the tail is carried more nearly horizontal than is the case with most Sparrows. A song from the Yakima country ran: Heo, chip’peway, chip′peway, chip′peway, but a common type heard on the banks of the Columbia in Walla Walla County, and repeated upon the northern limit of the bird’s range in Douglas County, is Tup, tup, to weely, chup, tup. A more pretentious ditty, occupying two seconds in delivery, runs Hooriedoppety, weeter wee, doodlety pootat′er,—an ecstacy song, wherein the little singer seems to be intoxicated with the aroma of his favorite sage.
One may search a long time in the neighborhood of the singer—who, by the way, closes the concert abruptly when he realizes that he is likely to give his secret away—before finding the humble domicile a foot or two up in a sage bush. A nest which contained five eggs was composed externally of sage twigs set into a concealed crotch of the bush, but the bulk of it consisted of weed-bark and “hemp” of a quite uniform quality; while the lining contained tufts of wool, rabbit-fur, cow-hair, feathers, and a few coiled horse-hairs. The feathers were procured at some distant ranch, and their soft tips were gracefully upturned to further the concealment of the eggs, already well protected by their grayish green tints.
Another nest, sighted some forty paces away, contained one egg, and we had high hopes of being able to secure photographs upon our return with the camera. But a few rods further we came upon a crew of sneaking Magpies, scouring the sage with a dozen beady eyes, and passing sneering or vulgarly jocose remarks upon what they found. When we returned, therefore, a day or two later, we were not surprised to learn that the feathered marauders had preferred egg-in-the-bill to souvenir photographs.
No. 46.
SLATE-COLORED JUNCO.
A. O. U. No. 567. Junco hyemalis (Linn.).
Synonyms.—Snow-bird. Eastern Snow-bird.
Description.—Adult male in summer: Upperparts, throat and breast slate-color deepening to slaty-black on pileum, the bluish tinge lacking on wings and tail; below, abruptly white from the breast, the flanks ashy slate; the two outer pairs of tail-feathers entirely, and the third pair principally white; bill flesh-color, usually tipped with black. Adult female: Similar to male; throat and breast paler; a brownish wash over the upperparts, deepest on nape and upper back; wings brownish fuscous rather than black, and sides tawny-washed. Adult male in winter, becoming like female, but still distinguishable. Length 6.00-6.50 (152.4-165.1); wing 3.07 (78); tail 2.80 (71.1); bill .49 (12.5). Female averages slightly smaller than male.
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; white lateral tail-feathers; hood slaty as compared with J. oreganus and J. o. shufeldti.
Nesting.—Not known to breed in Washington. Nest and eggs as next.
General Range.—North America, chiefly east of the Rocky Mountains, breeding in the hilly portions of the Northern States (east of the Rockies) north to the Arctic Coast and west to the valleys of the Yukon and Kowak Rivers, Alaska; south in winter as far as the Gulf States and sparingly over the Western States to California, Arizona, etc.
Range in Washington.—Casual during migrations; may winter rarely in company with J. oreganus.
Authorities.—Not previously published: W. T. Shaw in epist. Dec. 1, 1908. J. H. Bowles in epist. Jan. 19, 1909.
Specimens.—P¹.
This the familiar Snow-bird of the East is occasionally seen west of the Rocky Mountains in winter and during migrations, specimens having been taken at Sumas, B. C., by Mr. Allan Brooks, and at Corvallis, Oregon, by Mr. A. R. Woodcock, in addition to the one reported from Pullman. It is not impossible that the bird is more common than we have been supposing, because, when found, it appears to be mingling freely with flocks of allied species, quite unaware of the fact that such actions are of interest to inquisitive bird-men.
No. 47.
OREGON JUNCO.
A. O. U. No. 567a. Junco oreganus (Towns.).
Synonyms.—“Oregon Snow-finch.” Western Snow-bird. Oregon Snow-bird. Townsend’s Junco.
Description.—Adult male: Head and neck all around and chest (abruptly defined along convex posterior edge) sooty black; back and scapulars and edging of tertials warm reddish brown (nearly walnut brown); rump, upper tail-coverts and middle and greater wing-coverts slaty gray or ashy gray, sometimes glossed with olivaceous; wings and tail dusky, edged with ashy; the outermost rectrix wholly and the second chiefly touched with white, the third pair touched with white near tip; sides of breast, sides and flanks strongly washed with pinkish brown (vinaceous cinnamon); remaining underparts (below chest) white. Bill pinkish white with dusky tip; iris claret red. Adult female: Head and neck all around and chest scarcely contrasting in color with upperparts but changing from warm brown (bister) above to dull slaty overlaid with brownish on throat and chest; brown of back (bister or dull sepia) without reddish tinge; white on second rectrix not so extensive as in male; wash of sides duller, not so vinaceous. Young: Top of head and hind-neck grayish brown streaked with dusky, back and scapulars warmer brown streaked with black; throat, chest, sides and flanks pale buffy brown streaked with blackish; otherwise as in adult. Length of adult males about 6.35 (161.3); wing 2.95 (75); tail 2.56 (65); bill .43 (11); tarsus 83 (21). Females smaller.
Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size; black of head and throat contrasting with white of breast; white lateral tail-feathers; head black as compared with J. hyemalis; back reddish brown as compared with J. o. shufeldti.
Nesting.—Nest: on ground at base of small bush or under fallen branch, sometimes in open wood or set into brushy hillside, of dead grasses and weed stems, scantily lined, or not, with hair; dimensions 2½ inches wide by 1½ inches deep inside. Eggs: 2-5, usually 4, varying in ground color from pure white to pinkish white or pale blue, spotted or freckled and blotched with light reddish brown or brownish black, with occasional light cloudings of lavender; long oval to short ovate; variable in size, .80 × .60 (20.3 × 15.2) to .73 × .56 (18.5 × 14.2). Season: fourth week in April to first week in July or August according to altitude; two or three broods.
General Range.—Pacific Coast district; in summer from southern British Columbia north to Yakutat Bay, Alaska; in winter south irregularly to California (Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties), straggling across the Cascade-Sierras into interior.
Range in Washington.—Formerly summer resident, now chiefly migrant and winter resident west of the Cascades; winter resident and migrant east of Cascades.
Authorities.—?Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VII., 1837, 188 (part). Junco oreganus Sclater, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX., 1858, 467. T. C&S. L¹. Rh. D¹. Kb. Ra. D². Kk. B.
Specimens.—U. of W. P¹. Prov. B.
In speaking of Juncoes it is necessary to distinguish between the rufous-backed bird of winter, the Oregon Junco proper, and the brownish-gray-backed bird of summer, the Shufeldt Junco. A dozen years ago oreganus was supposed to be the common breeding bird of Puget Sound and the neighboring foothills, altho Shufeldt’s was well known in the more open situations. Latterly, however, there has not been any authentic account of the nesting of the red-backed bird within the State. 1903 witnessed its last appearance as a summer bird, and that only in the highlands. Recent specimens taken during the breeding season at places so remote from each other as the prairies of Pierce County, the banks of the Pend d’Oreille in Stevens County, and the High Cascades in Whatcom County, have all proven to be J. o. shufeldti.
The fact appears to be that we have detected a Washingtonian instance of that northward trend of species clearly recognizable in the East, but obscured to our vision heretofore in the West by reason of varied conditions and insufficient data. The theory is that the birds are still following the retreat of the glacial ice. We know that the glacial ice-sheet, now confined to Greenland and the high North, once covered half the continent. In our own mountains we see the vestigial traces of glaciers which were once of noble proportions. We know that the southward advance of the continental ice-sheet must have driven all animal life before it; and, likewise, that the territory since relinquished by the ice has been regained by the animals. What more natural than that we should witness thru close observation the northward advance of those varieties of birds which are best suited to withstand cold, and the corresponding occupation of abandoned territory on the part of those next south?