–when leaden skies brood o’er us,

And the snowflakes whirl about,

Wings a cloud-gray flock, snow breasted,

To the thickets, in and out, Fluttering gently, lisping

sweetly,–

Cheery, friendly junco throng,–

Neighbors till April sunshine

North they fly, with trilling song.

–From “The Junco or Slate-colored Snowbird” by Alice E. Ball, 1916

When I lived in Indiana, I had a friend that couldn’t hardly wait for winter as his favorite bird, the Dark-eyed Junc...