THE STATUS OF HARRIS’S SPARROW IN WISCONSIN 
AND NEIGHBORING STATES 
By Alvin R. Cahn 
During the spring of 1914 the writer was fortunate enough 
to collect a specimen of the Harris sparrow, Zonotrichia querula, 
(Nuttall), in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, and as it was a new 
bird to him — at least in the flesh — a search of the ornithological 
literature for references as to its occurrence in the state followed. 
This naturalK led to references in the adjoining states, until it 
was deemed advisable to collect under one heading just what 
has been published relative to the status of the bird in this por- 
tion of the United States. The writer wishes also to add four 
additional records to those already published for Illinois, and 
twelve to the small list of Wisconsin records, nine of which were 
made during May, 1914. 
It must be stated at the outset that the species is uncommon, 
if not rare east of the Mississippi river, for it seems hardly prob- 
able that a bird of so striking appearance should be as com- 
pletely overlooked as would be necessary to account for the few 
references to it in the literature of this region. Its breeding 
area is stated by the A. O. U. Check-list (l) 1 to be the Hudsonian 
zone, but there seem to be very few authentic records of its nest 
and eggs. The migration range is given as between western 
Ontario and eastern Illinois, and central Montana and eastern 
Colorado; the winter home is northern Kansas and western 
Missouri southward to southern Texas. It may, therefore, be 
considered a bird whose appearance east of the Mississippi is 
the exception rather than the rule. 
There are many records for the Harris sparrow in the western 
states, as in Texas, Kansas, and Missouri, for example, where 
it is reported as abundant at one time of the year or another. 
Our knowledge of the sparrow up to 1884 is summed up very 
Numbers in parentheses refer to the title under the corresponding figure in the bibliography. 
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