64 
BY TIIE WAYSIDE 
The Song Sparrow 
Clara Bates, Traverse City Mich. 
To most people the word sparrow 
means only our little immigrant, the 
English sparrow. In the United States 
we have over eighty distinct varieties, 
and in Michigan alone twenty-five 
varieties. 
In the early spring, when the alders 
and willows are beginning to turn a 
misty pink and gold, when the snow 
has receeded from the warm hillsides, 
and the arbutus buds are just begin¬ 
ning to swell, you will be awakened 
some morning by an outburst of song. 
So clear, so sweet, so penetrating, so 
pulsing with life and joy, that it 
seems the Hope of Spring incarnate. 
Many a time I have had friends come 
to me and implore me to, “ Hurry, for 
there is a rare new bird, with the most 
marvelous song!” How disappointed 
they often were when I called it a spar- 
row, not realizing that some of the 
sweetest singers are found among this 
family. 
The earliest-of-all singer is the song 
sparrow. And rightly is he named. 
You will know him by his streaked 
vest, and the big “black diamond” he 
wears in bis shirt front. He has a 
funny fashion of raising the feathers 
on his head, so that they appear as a 
crest, and one of his distinguishing 
characteristics is the way in which lie 
constantly jerks his tail. He builds 
his nest in low bushes and vines, and. 
is a fearless, friendly little chap, com¬ 
ing boldly into town. They nest every 
year in my garden, usually choosing 
the bittersweet vine on the tool shed, 
or the wild clematis that clambers over 
p dividing fence, but last spring they 
dose the woodbine over a window on 
the house. WUe Mi. Song Sparrow 
spent most of his time in a huge snow¬ 
ball bush nearby, flitting constantly 
about, and singing defiantly at all the 
cats in the neighborhood, who camped 
under the spreading, tapering boughs, 
too slender for them to climb. Mean¬ 
while his little mate brooded her eggs 
in safety, and slipped unseen to and 
from the nest, raising a splendid brood 
of potential singers. 
Bird students declare that the song 
sparrow is the most individual in his 
singing of any bird, and even a super¬ 
ficial study will convince you that that 
is so. There are several song sparrows 
that nest in the block where my home 
is situated, and I never have the slight¬ 
est difficulty in telling which one is 
singing. They all have the same song, 
but the tonal quality, the shading of 
expression, the way in which the song 
is treated, varies with each bird. Sum¬ 
mer before last a song sparrow nested 
in my yard, whose song commenced ex¬ 
actly like that of a towliee. I spoke to 
another bird student about it, and he 
reminded me that the young birds are 
taught to sing, and suggested as an ex¬ 
planation that this bird when young 
might have been in close proximity with 
a towhee’s nest. The same bird re¬ 
turned last summer, but nested further 
down the street. I knew it instantl}, 
from its song. 
What we might call the theme of the 
song consists of three long notes and 
a rich trill. But each bird adds grace 
notes to suit its individual preference. 
My mother used to translate the song 
as “Sweet, sweet, sweet, as ever it may 
be!” And that indeed seems to be the 
very spirit of the song sparrow,—hope 
incarnate,—telling us that life is sweet, 
sweet, sweet, as ever it may be when 
we rise on wings of thought into the 
fresher, purer life above the world of 
mundane things. 
