Thrush, Hermit 



The hermit has a distinguishing reddish tail, which it 

 raises and lowers as it gives its characteristic call oi chuck. 



Its song is one for which many of nature's devotees 

 make long pilgrimages; and to my mind it excels that 

 of any bird I have ever heard, being, above all others, 

 serene and uplifting. 



Florence A. Merriam. Birds of Village and Field. ^ 



In full song his voice is rich and sonorous; and a softer 

 tone, which I heard soon after his arrival, was like the 

 finest thread of pure gold. 



Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^ 



It is perhaps more of an evening than a morning hymn, 

 though I hear it at all hours of the day. It is very simple, 

 and I can hardly tell the secret of its charm. " O spheral, 

 spheral!" he seems to say: ''O holy, holy! O clear away, 

 clear away! O clear up, clear up!" interspersed with 



the finest trills and the most dehcate preludes 



It suggests no passion or emotion, — nothing personal, — 

 but seems to be the voice of that calm, sweet solemnity 

 one attains to in his best moments. 



Burroughs. Wake Robin.^ 



Unrivaled one, the hermit-thrush, 



Solitary, singing in the west. Selected. 



Then in that solemn hour I hear 



A hymn that comes so sweet and clear, 



So pure a tone, it seems to be 



A bit of heaven's minstrelsy. Selected. 



156 



