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- 
