337 
FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
As he sits he has a trick of raising his crown every few minutes, 
calling especial attention to his directive face marking, and the 
moment he flies his white tail crescent shows conspicuously. 
He is much in evidence, not only from his abundance and his con¬ 
spicuous markings but from his musical song, which is heard almost 
continuously wherever he is found. The song is long and varied and 
has a purring phrase which is especially characteristic. Like the 
house finch he sings with fine fervor when dancing before his mate 
with spread tail and quivering wings. 
GENUS ZONOTRICHIA. 
General Characters. — Bill small, compressed, conical; tail nearly or quite 
as long as wing, slightly rounded ; tarsus not more than a third the length 
of tail. 
KEY TO ADULT MALES. 
1. Top of head wholly black or mottled. querula, p. 337. 
1'. Top of head striped. 
2. Crown with yellow patch. coronata, p. 339 
2'. Crown striped black and white. 
3. Throat with white patch.albicollis, p. 340. 
3'. Throat without white patch. 
4. Lores black. leucophrys, p. 338. 
4'. Lores not black. 
5. Back ashy, marked with brown .... gambelii, p. 339. 
5'. Back olivaceous, marked with blackish . . nuttalli, p. 339. 
553. Zonotrichia querula {Nutt.). Harris Sparrow. 
Adults. — Top of head and throat solid black, black streaking down 
over middle of breast; rest of under parts 
white; sides and flanks buffy brown, streaked 
with darker brown; upper parts brown; 
back and scapulars streaked with blackish ; 
wings with two white bars. Young , first 
plumage (described by Preble): upper parts blackish, feathers edged with 
buffy and brown; wing quills edged with buffv and brown ; tail feathers 
edged and tipped with whitish; sides of head and under parts buffy ; 
malar stripe conspicuous; chest and sides streaked with black. Male: 
length (skins) 6.46-7.33, wing 3.43-3.60, tail 3.14-3.38, bill .50-.52. Fe¬ 
male : length (skins) 6.66-6.95, wing 3.15-3.35, tail 3.04-3.16, bill .48-.51. 
Remarks. — Some specimens have black throat patch and crown feath¬ 
ers tipped with grayish. Mr. Ridgway thinks these may be young birds. 
Distribution. — Interior of British America (Fort Churchill and Hudson 
Bay), wintering south over the interior plains to southern Texas; acci¬ 
dental in British Columbia and Oregon. 
The breeding range of the Harris sparrow is unknown except for 
Mr. Preble’s Fort Churchill record. The last of July among the 
dwarf spruces of Fort Churchill he found an adult male and female 
with young just from the nest. 1 
1 “ Biological Investigation of Hudson Bay Region.” By Edw. A. Preble. Fauna 22, 
Biol. Surv. 
Fig. 425. 
