. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. Bird Study ei. THE SONG SPARROW Teachers' Story "He does not wear a Joseph's coat of many colors, smart and gay His suit is Quaker brown and gray, with darker patches at his throat. And yet of all the well-dressed throng, not one can sing so brave a song. It makes the pride of looks appear a vain and foolish thing to hear His "Sweet, sweet, sweet, very merry ; A lofty place he does not love, he sits by choice and well at ease In hedges and in little trees, that st
. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. Bird Study ei. THE SONG SPARROW Teachers' Story "He does not wear a Joseph's coat of many colors, smart and gay His suit is Quaker brown and gray, with darker patches at his throat. And yet of all the well-dressed throng, not one can sing so brave a song. It makes the pride of looks appear a vain and foolish thing to hear His "Sweet, sweet, sweet, very merry ; A lofty place he does not love, he sits by choice and well at ease In hedges and in little trees, that stretch their slender arms above The meadow brook; and then he sings till all the field with pleasure rings; And so he tells in every ear, that lowly homes to heaven are near In 'Sweet, sweet, sweet, very merry cheer.' —Henry Van Dyke. Children should commit to memory the poem from which the above stanzas were taken; seldom in literature, have detailed accurate observa- tion and poetry been so happily combined as in these verses. The lesson might begin in March when we are all listening eagerly for bird voices, and the children should be asked to look out for a little, brown bird which sings, "Sweet, sweet, sweet, very merry cheer," or, as Thoreau interprets it, "Maids! Maids! Maids! Hang on the teakettle, teakettle-ettle- ; In early childhood I learned to distinguish this sparrow by its "Teakettle" song. Besides this song, it has others quite as sweet; and when alarmed it utters a sharp "T'chink, t'; The song sparrow prefers the neighborhood of brooks and ponds which are bordered with bushes, and also the hedges planted by nature along rail or other field fences, and it has a special liking for the shrubbery about gardens. Its movements and flight are very characteristic; it usually sits on the tip-top of a shrub or low tree when it sings, but when disturbed. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page image
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