Harris—Birds of the Kansas City Region. 3038 
They seem to occur most commonly in the Missouri bottoms 
and bluff regions, but are found in suitable sparrow territory 
over the entire county. 
The beautiful though rather subdued song of this sparrow is 
regularly heard in late April and early May, and occasionally 
in the fall (October 14, 1917). 
MELOSPIzA GEORGIANA (Latham). Swamp Sparrow. 
Common migrant and not uncommon winter resident. 
The first northbound Swamp Sparrows arrive early in March 
though during mild seasons they may come as early as the mid- 
dle of February. They are present until late in April and the 
last are seen during the first week in May (May 9, 1914, May 
9, 1915, latest). The autumn migrants are present from the 
middle of October until the first or second week in November, 
after which only the scattered winter residents are to be found. 
Like the Lincoln’s Sparrow this bird seems to like best the 
bottoms and bluffs along the river, especially in winter, where 
there is to be found plenty of food and shelter in the grassy 
sloughs and deep tangles of underbrush. In less numbers they 
are also found on the prairie regions in winter, about hedges, 
thickets, wooded ravines, weed patches and brushy creek bot- 
toms. 
PASSERELLA ILIACA ILIACA (Merrem). Fox Sparrow. 
Very common migrant and fairly common winter resident. 
During open and mild winters when the Fox Sparrow is com- 
mon, it is difficult to say just when the migrants arrive, though 
they are particularly numerous all during March. The few 
April records are for stragglers and are all in the first half of 
the month. The first fall migrants arrive late in September 
and become common early in October, the bulk passing during 
the first three weeks. After the first week in November only 
the wintering birds are left. The Fox Sparrow may be said 
to be an irregular winter resident, since it is very numerous in 
all parts of the county during some winters and during others 
only a few scattered birds are to be found in the thickest cover 
of the deep sheltered bottom lands. 
During the migration periods they are found everywhere in 
the open country but the largest flocks follow the bluffs and 
bottoms along the Missouri River. 
