THE UNDERLYING IDEA 85 



count, can scarcely have missed the undercurrent of 

 my affection for the little rascal. He is a thorough 

 optimist; he is absolutely persistent; no hardship 

 seems to dampen his ardor. His heart is valiant 

 above that of most birds so that he has dared to make 

 of man his near neighbor when other birds consider 

 him their worst enemy. I love him for it. When I 

 am in the midst of a big city with its cliffs of offices 

 and its gorges of paved streets, it is to me a cheer 

 and a delight to see this happy little fellow who has 

 adapted himself to circumstances against which no 

 other bird, excepting the pigeon, can cope. I confess 

 that it would be with regret that I should see him dis- 

 appear from the landscape. I have missed a long line 

 of spring peas through his ravages, and he has objec- 

 tionably decorated many places about my own home. 

 But I have yet the first violent hand to lay upon the 

 sparrow, and I doubt whether my hand is ever to be 

 reddened with his blood. 



I am going to ask bird-men to forgive me if I say 

 that I believe, although I speak only from general 

 impression, and not from careful research, that the 

 sparrow within the past eight years has reached his 

 equilibrium in the neighborhood of Philadelphia and 

 is growing no more abundant. Meanwhile another 

 and very desirable state of affairs is arising. Bird 

 love and bird protection are so active in this neigh- 



