Plioto by Charles li. Tolman 



SONG SPARROW (Se;E PAGE 681) 



The snng sparrow's vast range in a dozen varying- climates, its readiness to adapt itself 

 to llie different conditions in each of the regidns it inliahils, its numerical alnmdance and 

 steady increase while some of its family are dying mit, its freedom from disease and vermin, 

 and its perennial good spirits evidenced 1)y its ne\'er-failing music — all prnclaim that it is, 

 indeed, one of Nature's successes. Its irrepressilile \'ivacity and good spirits in spite of all 

 circumstances are aptly illustrated by the fact that its song may be heard in every month 

 of the year and in all weathers ; also h_v night as well as Ijy day, for nothing is more common 

 in the darkest nights than to hear its sweet chant in half-conscious answer to the hooting of 

 the owl or even the report of a gun. — Erxkst Tiioiii'So-\'. 



fossils tliemseh'cs.'' Two specimens have 

 been dise-overed, one being" ni)w in tlie 

 Britisli ^Itisetmi, llie dtlier in llie llerlin 

 Museum. Tbe\' \\'ere l)i)tli found in the 

 btli()gra])hic slates nf Solenliofen, in lia- 

 varia, a furmatinn of the Jurassic period, 

 and, ttigetlicr, furnisin the more imjxir- 

 tant details of tlie strucUn-e nf tliis rc])ti1c- 

 like l)ird. 



Tliis resti)ratii in, thei'eforc, while dotibl- 

 less inacctu'atc in niimir points, is still 

 near enmigh tn Ibc truth to give a cnrrect 

 idea of this extrai irdinary bird's appear- 

 ance. 



*For papers on the Archa;opteryx, see Nat- 

 ural vScienee (Macmillan Co.). vols, v-viii. 



^ A PKICIIISTORIC REPTILE BII'tD 



Tlie .\rch;c^)pter^•x was about the size 

 of a crow. Its long, feathered tail is 

 supposed to have acted as an aeroplane, 

 assisting in the sup|iort of the bird while 

 it \\'as in the air, but its po\\'er of flight 

 was dduhtlcss limited. It was arboreal 

 and prdbabl)- ue\er descended to the 

 earth, but clim1)ed about the branches of 

 trees, using its large, booked fingers in 

 passing from limb to liml). 



The wanderings of this almost quadru- 

 l^edal creature must necessarily have been 

 limited, but its winged descendants of to- 

 day are more generally distributed than 



704 



