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* SPANISH WAR VETERANS. 41-t SPARROW. States who honorably served during the war with Spain or the war in the Philippines. The National Auxiliary of this order admits to mem- bership mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters of members, and other women, as nurses, who ren- dered species service during the war. SPANKER. A fore-and-aft quadrilateral sail set on the mizzenmast of ships and barks (qq.v. ). It was formerly called the driver. SPAR (AS. spa-r, Ger. Spar, gypsum). A term which is used by miners to denote any bright crystalline mineral, and which has been adopted by mineralogists in the names of a number of minerals, as calcareous spar, fluor spar, etc., in which, however, it has no proper generic significance. SPARID^ (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from Lat. sparus, from Gk.a-rrdpos, gilt-head, sort of fish). An important family of spiny-rayed fishes, to which belong the porgies, sheepshead, scup, etc. (qq.v.). The body is elongate, with the dorsal side more or less elevated. The scales are rather large. There is a single dorsal fin, the anterior portion being spinous. The family contains about 100 species. They are shore fishes, carnivorous in habit, most common in the tropical seas. SPARKS, .Tared (1789-1866). An American historian, editor, and educator, born at Willing- ton, Conn. He graduated at Harvard College in 1815. Here, after teaching school, he was (1817- 19) tutor in mathematics and natural phi- losophy. During this time he studied theology and (1817-18) edited the North American Re- view. From 1819 to 1823 he was pastor of a Unitarian church in Baltimore: in 1821-23 he edited there the Unitarian Miscellany and Chris- tian Monitor (monthly) ; and from 1824 to 1831 again edited the North American Review, of which he was chief proprietor. In 1830 he founded and was the first editor of the American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, published an- nually imtil 1861. In 1839 he became professor of history at Harvard, of which institution he was president from 1849 to 1853. During this time he reformed administrative methods, in- sisted upon the recognition by the Massachusetts Legislature of Harvard's chartered rights, and vigorously opposed the elective system. He is best known, however, as a biographer, and as an editor and collector of documents relating to American history. In this field he was a pioneer and rendered services of great value. As an editor he was severely criticised for taking liberties with his materials, such as failing to re- produce letters and documents accurately, mak- ing many verbal and other changes, and omitting numerous passages; but the extent to which he took such liberties has been greatly exaggerated. Perhaps his best knovm work is his edition of the Writings of George Washington (12 vols., 1834-37), the first volume of which is an excel- lent biography of Washington, frequently pub- lished separately. This edition met with much criticism, involving Sparks particularly in a con- troversy with Lord Mahon, and it has since been superseded in many respects by that of W. C. Ford. Sparks also edited : The Library of Amer- ican Biography (first series, 10 vols., 1834-38; second series, 15 vols., 1844-47), to which he him- self contributed several biographies; The Diplo- matic Correspondence of the American Revolu- tion (12 vols,, 1829-30), since superseded in most respects by Wharton's Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (6 vols., 1889) ; The Works of Benjamin Franklin loith a Life of the Author (10 vols., 1836-40), since superseded by Bigelow's Complete Works of Ben- jamin Franklin (10 vols., 1887-89); and Corre- spondence of the American Revolution; Letters of Eminent Men to George Washington (4 vols., 1853). He also published a Life of Goiiverneur Morris, with Selections from Bis Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers (3 vols., 1832). He left voluminous manuscript journals, and a mass of valuable documentary material relating chiefly to the diplomatic history of the American Revo- lution, which was collected by him during several trips to Europe, and which he bequeathed to the Harvard Library. Consult: H. B. Adams, Life and Writings of Jared Sparks (2 vols., Boston, 1893). SPARROW (AS. spear wa, spearewa, Goth. sparwa, OHG. sparo, sparwe, sparling; connect- ed with OPruss. sperglas, spurglas, sparrow, and probably ultimately with Eng. spur, spurn). A small bird of the finch family (Fringillidae) , generally with dull plumage and slight powers of song, feeding on the ground or among under- brush or weeds, and nesting in bushes or low trees or on the ground. Originally the name be- longed specifically to the common European spar- row ( see House Sparrow ), but now has been inaccurately extended to include certain war- blers, weaver-birds, and others. Of American spar- rows probably the most familiar is the common chipping sparrow (see Chippy), a small grayish bird. The field-sparrow (Spizella piisilla) is a very similar species, which occurs throughout the Eastern United States in summer, distin- guished by its brighter rufous color and flesh- colored bill. A third species of this genus, the tree-sparrow {Spizella monticola), occurs in the United States only in winter, breeding in La- brador and the Hudson Bay region. It is con- siderably larger than the chippy and has a con- spicuous black spot on the grayish-white breast. Next to the chippy the best known American sparrow is probably the song-sparrow (Melospiza melodia or cincrea). which in some one of its varieties ranges throughout practically the whole of North America. It is between six and seven inches in length, the general shade of the upper surface brown, of the under surface dirty white, but everywhere more or less streaked with black or rufous brown, the streaks on the centre of the breast tending to form one large characteris- tic blotch. This is one of the earliest spring songsters in the Northern States, and its refrain, although not extended, is remarkably clear and sweet. Its nest is composed of grasses, rootlets, and the like, lined with fine grasses and long hairs, and is frequently placed on the ground. The eggs are very variable in color and form, the ground shade ranging from nearly white to deep blue thickly marked with reddish brown. Two broods are often raised in a season. Two other species of Melospiza range through Eastern North America, the swamp-sparrow {Melospiza Georgiana) and Lincoln's sparrow (Melospiza Lincolni) . They resemble the song-sparrow in appearance, but are much more shy and retiring in their habits. Some twenty or thirty other birds are called sparrows in the United States, among