The Song Sparrow 109 
THE SONG SPARROW 
This is most children’s favourite bird : is it 
yours? Although by no means the belle of the 
family, the song sparrow is beloved throughout 
its vast range if for no other reason than be- 
cause it is irrepressibly cheerful. Good spirits 
are contagious : every one feels better for having 
a neighbour always in a good humour. Most 
birds mope when it rains, or when they shed 
their feathers, or when the weather is cold and 
dreary, or when something doesn’t please them, 
and cultivate their voices only when they fall 
in love in the happy spring-time. But you 
may hear the hardy, healthful song sparrow’s 
“ merry cheer” almost every month in the year, 
in fair weather or in foul, in the middle of the 
night and in broad daylight, when a little mate 
is to be wooed with light-hearted vivacity, 
when two, three, or even four broods severely 
tax the singer’s energy through the summer, 
when clothes must be changed in August 
and when the cold of approaching winter drives 
every other singer from the choir. The most 
familiar song — for this tuneful sparrow has at 
least six similar but slightly different melodies 
in his repertoire — begins with a full round note 
three times repeated, then dashes off into a 
sweet, short, lively, intricate strain that almost 
trips itself in its hasty utterance. Few people 
