BIRDS OF KANSAS. 453 



Zonotrichia querula (XUTT.). 



HARRIS'S SPARROW. 

 PLATE XXVIII. 



Winter sojourner; abundant in the eastern part of the State; 

 rare in the western. Begin to leave in March; a few fre- 

 quently linger into May; return in October. 



B. 348. R. 205. C. 280. G. 103, 223. U. 553. 



HABITAT. From eastern Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota and Mani- 

 toba, west to eastern Montana and western Nebraska; south in 

 winter through the Indian Territory to Texas. 



SP. CHAR. Top of head black, without trace of median stripe, or of yellow: 

 sides and flanks light buffy brown, broadly streaked with dusky; adult with 

 whole chin and throat, lores and top of head uniform black. Adult: Sides of 

 head dull brownish white, or light grayish brown; rest of head mainly uniform 

 black; breast (except centrally) and belly pure white. Immature: Top of head 

 black, but this much obscured by whitish or buffy borders to feathers; whole 

 side of head, including sides of forehead and superciliary region, buffy; chin 

 aud throat white, bordered along each side by blackish streak (sometimes, 

 blotched with black); middle of chest blotched or spotted with black or dark 

 brown; otherwise like adult. (Ridgway.) 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 7.50 10.80 3.40 3.60 .95 .50 



Female... 7.25 10.40 3.20 3.45 .95 .50 



Iris brown; bill pale yellowish red to reddish brown; in the 

 breeding season nearly coral red; legs pale reddish flesh color; 

 feet a shade darker; claws dark brown. 



The birds inhabit the thickets bordering streams and the 

 edges of low woodlands. They are usually met with in small 

 flocks. A favorite resort is in and about the brush heaps, 

 where the land is being cleared. They seldom mount high in 

 the trees, but keep near the ground, upon which they hunt and 

 scratch among the leaves for seeds and insect life. 



They commence singing early in the spring, and upon warm, 

 sunshiny days their song can be heard almost continually, as 

 one after the other pours forth its pleasing, plaintive, whistling 

 notes, in musical tone much like the White-throated Sparrow, 

 but delivered in a widely different song. 



Very little, if anything, is known with certainty in regard to 

 their nesting habits. They probably breed from northern Min- 



