The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-10-02

hravsst End chssrlsn Minstrel o. Al
American birds.

FhoW SUN lies banked deep nRaln1t the
epnhning fences, the song sparrow vol
ces the promise OF spring before ,ae
robin and the bheblrd dare
In August when every other uird
voice is stilled and the earth is baked
and the green is parched. the song
sparrow sings OF coming autumn rains.
In NO month Of the year is he wholly
silent, and though storm and hunger
may force him to long journeys ne has
n song ready for each new resting
place. The search for sweet ana per-
feet optimism ends with the song spar
row.
The bird is nothing 10 the eye ard
everything to the ear He dresses in
drabs and browns, with streaKngs of
and bay and ash. with white enough
below to make prominent an ,denns
Tying brown patch on the breast
The song sparrow gave the frost-
hound pilgrims OF the Plymouth Colony
the frst sylabled hope that some where
beyond the awful winter lay the spring
He has been giving The same wotd oI
1 hone to every Northern farming house
hold for nearly three centuries. tie g
che true herald OF the spring. nolwith
standing the fact tha, the robin and the
hluebird have that honor OF men,
The robin and the bluebird are Goa.
spicuously beautiful. the song splrroN
is an ugly duckrng ana while be. pipes
his spring song for. week before thu
others come. tlse ones IN the fine rai-
ment. as is the way OF things - this
world, get the credit OF the welcome
The song sparrow oughs to have won
some songs IN return for his music 5ut
most OF the poets have been neglectfui
Theis6ug sparrow is known to the peo-
pie. OF Tie county as the ground ORD,
Poets as a rule ire not ornithologists,
and it is probable that when they have
caught Uhe sparrows melody and have
been moved to questioning they have
Geen stopped from singing by the
earthly name OF the songster Ground
bird, indeedl The poet would have
none of it, for poets must sour Not
all the human singers. however nav,
neglected the bird though none Of
them has given II any length of lines.
George Parsons Lathrop. VINO did
much more in prose than in poetry. was
nevertheless moved out Of mis- wont to
sing when he heard the spring song
sparrow at his garden gate.
Glimmers grey the leafless thicket
Close beside my garden gate.
Where, SO hight, from post to wicket,
Hops the sparrow, hlithc. sedate.
Who, with meekly folded wing.
Comes to sun himself and slug.
Mr.. Latnrop caught the manner OF
the sparrow and drew his proper pis.
ture Let not every one. however. look
for the song sparrow at his garden
cate. The birds presence there de-
pends altogether on the garden. The
song sparrow shuns no man save the I
man who makes artificial his surround 1
ings. 1t is the oid-fashioned garden
with tangles here and there, that The !
song sparrow loves. He does not dis I
pise the fruit garden. and though. like /
the soaring lark, he prefers t. mahe
his nes' on the ground, he will on occa-
fon place 1t in the currant bush ar III
some tbicket which the hand Of the
sardener has spared.
The song sparrow is one Of the few
American birds that A1 Atly named
The scieDtists have elassed the birds
properly and have given them prob
ably correct naming in Latin, but the
people In naming the fowls es the az
have played havoc with truth. Some
Of our so-called thrushes are not
brushes at all; our robin isn't robin;
bur nlshthawk isn'tSa hawk, but our
song sparrow, praise be- is both a spar
row and a songster
r. Schuyler Mathews. IA his Field
Book OF Wild Birds aud Their Music
declares that the song SPARROW de
votes himself TO pure, simple melody,
and Is in consequence the best eXpon-
ent OF the song motive among all The
Of the feathered tribe
Mr Mathews has made Transcripts
lion OF the song Of the sparrow and
has set il down in notes SO thai man
may play It upon his interpreting m
strumeuts lie finds a swing and ac-
cent 10 these few tones which perfect.
" express an exultant feeling, some
hing akin to that so eloquently given
In the first bars OF siegmunds love
song m the Nibelungen lAed
John Burroughs interprets the song
sparrow's music thus Swee-e-t.
,wee-et. swee-e-t. bitrer and then ne
says uhat this is staple but profound
summing up OF life.
And SO il may be. but il shakes ones
'aith even In Burroughs 90 know that
le caa hnd a suggestion OF bitterness ~
he music Of the song sparrow -Chi-
.ago Evening Post.
The total agricultural area IN the
United States, il is estimated is sil-