Snowbird calling in the apple tree

Nowadays everyone seems to call these birds "juncos." But when I was

a boy fifty or sixty years ago, my father always said "snowbird," a

name that seems to predate the use of "junco" for this North American

bird.



But, although I took university courses in etymology and lexicography,

I never took one in ornithology.



When I was younger, the snowbird struck me as the most boring of all

birds but I've come to like them now. I like the sounds they make,

buzzing and clicking and cellphone-ringing.