The Song Sparrows 



outcry, as though I were 

 pulling her hair or some- 

 thing, and the fowls scat- 

 tered for their lives. 

 Once the Sparrow flew 

 over their heads yelling 

 bloody murder! And 

 that time the wheat-eat- 

 ers were so scared it took 

 them ten minutes to re- 

 cover. The Sparrow, 

 meanwhile, managed to 

 secure a very comfort- 

 able meal. Now wasn't 

 that clever! 



It is as a songster, 

 however, that we know 

 this sparrow best. Sil- 

 ver-tongue's melody is 

 like sunshine, bountiful 

 and free and ever grate- 

 ful. Mounting some bush 

 or upturned root, he 

 greets his childish listen- 

 ers with "Peace, peace, 

 peace be unto you, my 

 children." And that is 

 his message to all the 

 world, "Peace and good- 

 will." Once on Puget 

 Sound, we sat storm- 

 bound at the mouth of 

 our tent, and, mindful 

 of the unused cameras, 

 grumbled at the eternal 

 drizzle. Whereupon the local poet flitted to a favorite perch on a stump 

 hard by, and, throwing back his head, sang, with sympathetic earnestness, 

 "Cheer up! Cheer up! Count your many mercies now." Of course he 

 did say exactly that, and the childish emphasis he put upon the last word 

 set us to laughing, my partner and me, until there was no more thought 

 of complaint. 



Taken in Ventura 



Photo by Donald R. Dickey 



SAN DIEGO SONG SPARROW, MOTHER AND BROOD 



Ui 



