| Show oo 00 lu W i 11 birds edmard D U I 1 i I 1 I 1 why cant our school officials arrange to have the school chil dren observe bird day this year in connection action with arborday arbor day s exercise trees and bird birds are valuable to man in a practical 21 way their presence also makes s life pleasanter for us all and we ought to encourage their crowth N THE HE song sparrow la is the true herald of the spring notwithstanding the fact that the robin and bluebird have that honor of 0 men the song sparrow is the singer of the year neither winter cold nor summer hait has power to check his tuneful desires in the february fields when the snow stu still lies banked deep against the confining fences the song sparrow voices the promise of edrin before tho the robin and the bluebird dare in august when every other bird voice la is stilled and the earth Is baked and the green la Is pt parched the bong sparrow eings sings of coning coming autumn rains in no month of the year Is he wholly silent and though storm and hunger may force him to long journeys he be has a song ready for each new now resting place the search for a sweet and perfect optimism ends with the song sparrow the bird Is nothing to the eye and everything to the car ear ha lie dresses in drabs and browns with akings of black and bay and ash aeb with white enough below to make prominent and identifying brown patch on the breast the song ei arrow gave the frost bound pil pilgrims grime of the plymouth colony the first arat hope hepe that some whore beyond the awful winter lay the spring he has been giving the samo flame word of hope to every northern farming household for nearly three centuries the robin and the bluebird are conspicuously beautiful the song sparrow Is an ugly dac duckling kling and while he pipes bis his spring song for a week before the others come the ones in sue fine ral ment as Is the way of things in thiv world get the credit and the welcome the song sparrow ought to have woo von some songs in return for his music but most of the poets have been neg net george parsons lathrop who did much more in prose than poetry was nevertheless moved out of his wont to to sing when be he heard the spring song sparrow at his garden gate glimmers Oll romen gar ay the leafless leaf leej thicket close beside my garden gate 1 W here ao so light from poet post to wicket hops the sparrow tp arrow blithe sedate who with meekly folded wing cornea comes to sun himself and line sing mr lathrop caught the manner 0 of f the sparrow and drew bis his proper picture let no everyone however look for the song sparrow at his garden gate the birds presence there de do altogether on the garden the song sparrow shuns no man save the man who hakea artificial his surround ings it Is the old fashioned garden with tangle tangles here and there tant th the song sparrow loves he ile docs does nol despise the fruit garden and though like the soaring lark be he prefers to make his nest on the ground he be on occasion will place it in tho the currant bush or in some thicket which tho the band hand of the gardener has spared P F schuyler matheia in his field book of bild birds and their music declares that tte song spa rov ide deletes pure simple melody and Is in consequence the best ex of the bong motive among all the members of the feathered tribe mr air mathews has made a transcription of the song of the sparrow and has set act it down in notes so that man may play t upon his interpreting in to st he lie finds a sw swing ing and accent cent to tr these few tones which perfectly express an exultant feeling something akin to that so eloquently given to the first bars of love song in the lungen lied john burroughs interprets the song sparrows music thus hace e t t bitted and then he swee e t e says that this Is a simple but pro found summing up of aim |
