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The Song Sparrow 
America where both the Song Sparrow and the Cowbird are found 
in summer, these unnatural happenings are taking place. It is indeed 
fortunate that Cowbirds’ eggs are not deposited in the nest of every 
Song Sparrow, else we might lose, in a few years, the presence of this, 
the most charming of all our common native sparrows. How fortu- 
GEOGRAPHIGAL RAGES OF THE SONG SPARROW 
Many varieties or subspecies of the Song Sparrow exist west of the great 
plains, evidently produced by varying climatic conditions. The accompanying illustra- 
tion, from a photograph of a mounted group in the American Museum of Natural 
History, in New York City, shows the center of distribution of seven of the most 
striking of the twenty varieties of Song Sparrows now recognized by naturalists ; 
and displays somewhat the variation in size, and in pattern of coloration. Those 
indicated are: i, Aleutian; 2, Sooty; 3, Heermann’s ; 4, Mountain; 5, Desert; 
6, Mexican ; 7, Eastern Song Sparrow. 
nate it would be if some one understanding the language of the birds 
would go through the woods each spring and whisper to every Song 
Sparrow, “Beware the Cowbird’s spotted egg; throw it out of your nest!” 
