The New Student's Reference Work/Junco



Jun′co a member of the finch family and a hardy little bird unafraid of winter’s cold, is sometimes known as the slate-colored snowbird. It belongs to the woods of the north. Naturally shy, it is not infrequently emboldened to join the chickadees and sparrows in accepting man’s hospitality, offered when deep snow makes lean pickings for feathered folks. In winter it feeds chiefly on weed-seeds and grain. It is about the size of the English sparrow, a small, trim bird robed in neatest Quaker uniform; its coat dark slate-color, a blackish hood fitted snugly about the head, then a slate colored breastplate; under part dull white, and white on the outer tail feathers. When disturbed, juncoes twitter and fly away, sometimes uttering what Chapman describes as a “sharp, kissing call.” During the nesting-season a simple trill or low, sweet warble is heard.