morning, noon
The young man 's family was not large , but a part of it was young , and he felt the responsibility . The song-sparrow is the very light and gladness of the woods and fields . There are rarer singers , and birds of more brilliant plumage , but he is the constant quantity . His notes may not rival those mellow , brief ones of the blue-birds in early spring , so sweet in their quaint inflection , which suggest all hope , and are so striking because heard while snow may be yet upon the ground ; he may not have the wild abandon of the bobolink with that tinkle and gurgle and thrill ; he is no pretentious songster , like a score of other birds , but he is a great part of the soul of early summer , for he is telling , morning , noon and night , how good the world is , how he approves of the sunshine , and how everything is all right ! And so the young man approved much of the song-sparrow , and was interested in the movements of all his kind . One day in May , the boy had noted something in the clump of bushes , between the house and creek , which very much resembled a small bird 's - nest , and had at once investigated . He found it , the nest of the song-sparrow , and , when the little gray guardian had fluttered away , he noted the four tiny eggs , and their mottled beauty .