218 



BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 



Among the birds that dwell on the steep mountain 

 sides above the " Loop " hollow are the melodious green- 

 tailed towhees, lisping their chansons of good-will to 

 breeze and torrent, while in the copse of asps in the 

 hollow itself the warbling vireo and the western fly- 

 catcher hold sway, the former rehearsing his recitative 

 all the day long, and the latter chirping his protest at 

 every human intrusion. On a pine-clad shelf between 

 the second fold of the " Loop " and what is known as 

 the " Great Fill " I settled (at least, to my own satis- 

 faction) a long-disputed point in regard to the vocaliza- 



tion of the 

 and again 



the i> 



".S'o/o singing in the 

 thrush realm ' 



mountain hermit thrush. Again 

 I had noticed a peculiarity about 

 hermifs minstrelsy — whenever 

 the music reached my ear, it 

 came in two runs, the first 

 quite high in the scale, the 

 second perhaps an octave 

 lower. For a long time I 

 supposed that two thrushes 

 were singing responsively, 

 but here at the " Loop," 

 after listening for a couple 

 of hours, it occurred to me 

 as improbable that there 

 would invariably be a respon- 

 dent when a thrush lifted up 



