Making New Friends 27 



Kentucky warblers. To this day I feel a longing to 

 visit the secluded spot where I held so many pleasant 

 interviews with these birds. 



Another Kansas bird that was new to my eyes and 

 that afforded me much delight was the Harris sparrow 

 a distinctively western species, not known, or at least 

 very rarely, east of the Mississippi River. He is truly a 

 fine bird, a little larger than the fox sparrow, neatly clad, 

 his breast prettily decorated with a brooch of black 

 spots held in place by a slender necklace of the same 

 color, while his throat and forehead are bordered with 

 black. His rump and' upper tail coverts are a delicate 

 shade of grayish brown, by which he may be readily 

 distinguished from the fox sparrow, whose rear parts are 

 reddish brown. His beak, feet, and legs are of a pinkish 

 tint, making him look quite trig and dressy. The latest 

 of the spring arrivals were the most highly colored, hav- 

 ing the whole chin, throat, and top of the head a glossy, 

 uniform black. 



It would appear that the most matured individuals 

 migrate farthest south in winter. That, at least, would 

 be the natural conclusion, judging from the fact that 

 they arrive latest in the spring in our central latitudes. 

 In the southern part of Kansas the Harris sparrows are 

 said to be common winter sojourners, but in the north- 

 eastern part of the state they disappeared in November 

 or December, and did not return until the middle of 

 February, or later if the weather happened to be severe. 

 From the time of their vernal arrival they were to be 



