THE UNDERLYING IDEA 



77 



He remembers voices quite as well as he remembers 

 faces. To him music is an unending delight, and 

 painting and sculpture fall into a distinctly secondary 

 place. This is ear-mindedness. Now, most of the 

 sparrows seem to be ear-minded, at least as far as 

 their recognition of their mates are concerned. In 

 this group beauty of song is developed many times 

 oftener than is especial ornateness of plumage. The 

 bird-lover who is himself keen of ear is never tired of 

 listening, when in the field, for the two low notes with 

 which the vesper sparrow introduces a song, the rest 

 of which is not at all unlike the one of his song-spar- 

 row cousin. The field sparrow begins more like the 

 song sparrow, but ends with an often repeated note, 

 which not a little resembles in general character the 

 somewhat more monotonous song of the grasshopper 

 sparrow or of the chippy. In comparison with these 

 melodious birds the English sparrow makes no show- 

 ing whatever. His voice is harsh and querulous, al- 

 though very occasionally it is possible for the bird- 

 lover to detect a note or two which would indicate 

 that, if he were properly educated, his voice might 

 amount to something. He wins his wife not by his 

 pleasant voice, but by his attractive appearance and 

 his winning ways. We have every right to infer 

 from the character of its fellow birds of the sparrow 

 family that once the female and male sparrow were 



