The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1906-05-10
THE SONG SPARROW.
Bravest ard Cheeriest Minstrel of All
American Birds.


The song sparrow Ii the singer Of the
year. Neither winter cold nor summer
I heat has power To check dis tunefui de.
sires, III the February fields, when the
SNOW still Hes banked deep against the
|cpntininI fences, the sony sparrow voices
the sprnnisp Of spring before the robin
and tile bIncbird dare.
In August, whep every other bird
voice ii stilled and shc earth " baked
and The green ii parci.ed, the song spar
row sings Of coming autumn rains. In
no month of tIse year IL he wholly sill
ent, and though storm and hunger may
force hin TO long journeys he has song
ready for each new resting place The
search for a sweet and perfect optimism
ends with the song sparrow
The bird Is nothing To the eye and
Everything 70 the ear. He dresses III
drabs and browns. with streakings Of
black and bay and ash, with white
enough helcsa To make prominent IN
Identifying brown patch on the breast.
The song sparrow gave the frostbound
pilgrims Of the Plymouth Colony the
first syllable Of hope that somewhere
beyond the awful winter lay the spring
lie has been giving Tile same word Of
hope to every Northern farming house
hold for nearly three centuries. He is
the true herald Of the spring, notwith-
standing the fact that the robin and
the bluebird have that honor Of men.
The robin and the bIuebird are con-
spicuousiy beautiful; the song sparrow
lis an ugly duekling, and while he pipes
his spring song for a week before the
others come, the ones III fine raiment,
Ias II the way of things in this world,
Eget the credit and the Welcome.
The song sparrow ought To have won
some songs in return for his music, but
most Of the poets have been ncglectfii.
The song sparrow i known To The pro
pie Of the country as the ground bird.
Poets rs a rule are not ornithologists.
and IL Is probable that when they have
caught Tile sparrow's melody and have
beeii moved to questioning they have
been stopped from singing BY the earth
" name of the sonxster. Ground bird,
Indeed. ihe poet would have none 6f
human singers, however, have neglected
the bird, though none Of them has given
Zig any length Of lines.
George Parsons Lathrop, who did
much more in prose than IN poetry, was
nevertheless moved out Of his wont to
sing when he heard the spring song spar
row at has garden gate.
tsIisnraars gayl the leafese thiekst 4
Close beside NV garden gatr8 lsf
Where, So Fight, from post To wicxrt
Hops the sparrow, blithe. sedste;
Who, with meekiy folded wing,
Comes u sun himself and sinr.
Sir. Isathrop caught the manner OF
the sparrow and drew his proper picture.
let not every one, however, look for
the song sparrow at his garden gate.
The birds presence there depends al
together on the garden. The song spar
row shuns no man save the man who
makes artificial his surroundings II is
the old. fashioned garden, with tangles
here and there, that the song sparrow
loves. He does not despise the fruit
garden, and though, like the soaring
bark, he prefers TO make his nest on tie
gronn5. he will on occasion place II in
the cunznt bush or IN some thicket
which the hand Of the gardner has
spared.
The song sparrow II one Of the few
Ameriean birds that are iitly named,
The scientists have clss.sa The birds
Properly and have given thsp prob
abs correct naming in latin. but the
people IN naming the fasels OF the ali
have played havoc with truth. Seine
of eur so-ealicd thrushes are not
thruslies at ell: our robin isn't a robin;
eur nightaawk isn't hawk. but our
song sparrow, praise be. il both spar
row and songstsr.
L. SCHUYLER Mathews Ia his Field
Book Of Wild Birds and Their Music,
declares Tat the song sparrow de
votes himself 70 pure, simple melody.
OF the song motive among all the mem
bers Of The featbsrsd tribe
Mr.. Mathews hss made a transcript
ton Of the song of the sparrow and has
set il loun in notes 30 that man may
play il upon his interpreting instru
ments. tie finds swing and accent
to these few tones which perfectly ex-
press an exultant feeling, something
akin TO that 70 sloquentiy given in the
iirst bars Of Sie4riuni's IoYe cong hi
the Nibclungsn Lied
John Burroughs interprets the song
sparrow'S miiSle thus; Sweet.
swsa-r-t sweet. bitter" and then ne
says Tint this, il ~ simple but Frofoulsd
summing up Of life.
And 50 II may be, but II shakes ones
faith even in Burroughs 70 know that he
can fnd suggestion Of bitterness in
the music of the song sparrow .--Ch icago
Evening poss.