An Owl once lived in a hollow tree, And he was as wise as wise could be. The branch of learning he didn't know Could scarce on the tree of knowledge grow, He knew the tree from branch to root, And an owl like that can afford to hoot. And he hooted--until, alas! one day, He chanced to hear, in a casual way, An insignificant little bird Make use of a term he had never heard. He was flying to bed in the dawning light When he heard her singing with all her might, "Hurray! hurray! for the early worm!" "Dear me," said the owl, "what a singular term! I would look it up if it weren't so late, I must rise at dusk to investigate. Early to bed and early to rise Makes an owl healthy, and stealthy, and wise!" So he slept like an honest owl all day, And rose in the early twilight gray, And went to work in the dusky light To look for the early worm at night. He searched the country for miles around, But the early worm was not to be found; So he went to bed in the dawning light And looked for the "worm" again next night. And again and again, and again and again, He sought and he sought, but all in vain, Till he must have looked for a year and a day For the early worm in the twilight gray. At last in despair he gave up the search, And was heard to remark as he sat on his perch By the side of his nest in the hollow tree: "The thing is as plain as night to me-- Nothing can shake my conviction firm. There's no such thing as the early worm." --O. HERFORD. [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. FOX SPARROW. Copyrighted by Nature Study Pub. Co., 1898, Chicago.] THE FOX-COLORED SPARROW. In "Wood Notes Wild," S. P. Cheney says this song-loving Sparrow has a sweet voice and a pleasing song, which he has set to music. No Sparrow, he says, sings with a better quality of tone. A distinguished musician himself, no one was better qualified to give a final opinion upon the subject. Others have spoken in praise of it, Burroughs characterizing it as "a strong, richly modulated whistle, the finest Sparrow note I have ever heard." Baird says, "in the spring the male becomes quite musical, and is one of our sweetest and most remarkable singers. His voice is loud, clear, and melodious; his notes full, rich, and varied; and his song is unequalled by any of this family that I have ever heard." Mr. Torrey finds a "Thrush-like" quality in the song of the Fox Sparrow. In his "Birds in the Bush" Mr. Torrey describes an interesting contest as follows: