SS6 BIRDS 



itself to the different conditions in each of the regions it 

 inhabits, its numerical abundance and steady increase while 

 some of its family are dying out, its freedom from disease 

 and vermin, and its perennial good spirits, evidenced by its 

 never- failing music — all proclaim that it is indeed one of 

 nature's successes. 



"Its irrepressible vivacity and good spirits in spite of 

 all circumstances are aptly illustrated by the fact that its 

 song may be heard every month of the year and in all 

 weathers; also by night as well as by day — for nothing is 

 more common in the darkest nights than to hear its sweet 

 chant in self-conscious answer to the hooting of the owl or 

 even the report of a gim. 



" It is never seen far from the water. Its alarm note is 

 a simple metallic *chip' which is very distinctive. But its 

 merry chant — which has won for it the name of *song spar- 

 row* — is its best-known note. It is a voluble and uninter- 

 rupted but short refrain, and is perhaps the sweetest of the 

 familiar voices of the meadow-lands. The song that it occa- 

 sionally utters while on the wing is of quite a different char- 

 acter, being more prolonged and varied. Though so abun- 

 dant, it cannot be called a sociable species. Even during 

 the migrations it is never seen in compact flocks." 



We should not infer from this bird's name that he is any 

 more of a musician than the other varieties; in fact, he by 

 no means ranks first as a songster in his class. 



Probably no other bird has been dissected as much as 

 this species. At last accounts the ornithologists, in compil- 

 ing their check list of North American birds, decided that 

 this httle fellow varied sufficiently in minute feather mark- 



