BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



It recalls, also, memories of deep Adirondack 

 woods near Seventh Lake, where we heard veeries 

 and wood thrushes sing antiphonally at sunset. 

 Range: This thrush is abundant in the eastern United States 

 during its migration, while on the way to its nesting 

 place in our Northern States, to New England, and 

 Canada. It winters in South America. 



It seems to bear a charmed life. It does no harm 

 and receives none; it is a favorite wherever its 

 voice is heard. 



THE HERMIT THRUSH 



The Hermit Thrush may be described in superlatives. 

 Of the four commoner thrushes, it comes earliest 

 (in March or early April) on its way to its haunts in 

 northern woods, remains longest (till October or Novem- 

 ber), and is considered by many to be the finest singer 

 of a highly gifted family. 



It is so very shy that it is rarely seen and yet, during 

 migration time, I once discovered a solitary hermit in a 

 tree on a vacant lot only a few blocks from the business 

 center of Cleveland. Because we sit quietly for hours 

 at a time in the Maine woods, we have been vouchsafed 

 many glimpses of its olive-brown back, its reddish-brown 

 tail (the mark of identification), and its rather thickly 

 spotted white and brown breast. We have noticed its 

 habit of raising its tail as it alighted; we have heard its 

 call-note chuck. 



Moore's Rock, Castine, Maine, commands an enchanting 

 view of Penobscot Bay, of distant hills, and of spruce 

 woods that are tenanted by veeries, olive-backed, and 

 hermit thrushes. There we make frequent pilgrimages, 

 to hear them sing at sunset. 



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