junco

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish junco (“reed, rush”), from Latin iuncus (“reed, rush”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *yoy-ni-. Doublet of juncus and junk.

noun

1. Any bird of the genus Junco, which includes several species of North American sparrow.
   Among many others secured by him, I noticed the eggs and parent birds of the American Widgeon, the Black duck, Canvass-back duck, Spirit duck (Bucephala albeola); small Black-head duck (Fulix affinis); the Wax-wing, (Ampelis garrulus); the Kentucky warbler, the Trumpeter swan, the Duck hawk (Falco anatum), and two species of juncoes. 1862 July, Daniel Wilson, “Science in Rupert’s Land”, in The Canadian Journal of Industry, Science, and Art, volume VII, number XL (New Series), Toronto, Ont.: […] Canadian Institute[…], →OCLC, page 343
   The juncos of this region were separated by Mr. L. M. Loomis and carry very striking characters, the most conspicuous being the bright rufous or reddish dorsal patch which is much more pronounced than in either oregonus or thurberi. These juncos are very common in the vicinity of Monterey during summer and during the breeding season are the only ones found there, but as foon as the young are fledged the birds wander. 1 July 1899, Henry B. Kaeding, “The Genus Junco in California”, in Bulletin of the Cooper Ornithological Club: A Bi-monthly Exponent of Californian Ornithology, volume I, number 5, Santa Clara, Calif.: Cooper Ornithological Club, published September–October 1899, →OCLC, page 81, column 1
   The slate-coloured junco is an infrequently reported host; probably it is molested very slightly by the brown-headed cowbird. … Mills (1957, pp. 25–27) noted that E. C. Allen found a fledgling cowbird attended and fed by juncos near Halifax, Nova Scotia, on July 17, 1933. 1963, Herbert Friedmann, “Brown-headed Cowbird [Hosts of the Brown-headed Cowbird]”, in Host Relations of the Parasitic Cowbirds, Washington, D.C.: United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, →OCLC, page 161
2. (obsolete) The common reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus), a bird found in Europe and much of the Palearctic.
   Arundinaceus. Brown-ferruginous; beneath whitiſh-teſtaceous; with tail-feathers banded and reddiſh at the apex. The junco of Geſner [i.e., Conrad Gessner], Aldrovand [i.e., Ulisse Aldrovandi], [John] Ray, and [Francis] Willughby. A use of the word to refer to the great reed warbler (Turdus arundinaceus, now Acrocephalus arundinaceus). 1819, Abraham Rees, “TURDUS”, in The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature.[…], volume XXXVI, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown,[…] [et al.], →OCLC, column 1