22 WAKE-ROBIN 



imitator, he never approaches the serene beauty and 

 sublimity of the hermit thrush. The word that 

 best expresses my feelings, on hearing the mocking- 

 bird, is admiration, though the first emotion is one 

 of surprise and incredulity. That so many and 

 such various notes should proceed from one throat 

 is a marvel, and we regard the performance with 

 feelings akin to those we experience on witnessing 

 the astounding feats of the athlete or gymnast, — 

 and this, notwithstanding many of the notes imi- 

 tated have all the freshness and sweetness of the 

 originals. The emotions excited by the songs of 

 these thrushes belong to a higher order, springing as 

 they do from our deepest sense of the beauty and 

 harmony of the world. 



The wood thrush is worthy of all, and more than 

 all, the praises he has received; and considering 

 the number of his appreciative listeners, it is not a 

 little surprising that his relative and equal, the 

 hermit thrush, should have received so little notice. 

 Both the great ornithologists, Wilson and Audubon, 

 are lavish in their praises of the former, but have 

 little or nothing to say of the song of the 'latter. 

 Audubon says it is sometimes agreeable, but evi- 

 dently has never heard it. Nuttall, I am glad to 

 find, is more discriminating, and does the bird 

 fuller justice. 



It is quite a rare bird, of very shy and secluded 

 habits, being found in the Middle and Eastern 

 States, during the period of song, only in the deep- 

 est and most remote forests, usually in damp and 



