THE TOWNSEND SOLITAIRE. 



227 



road cut near Renton, altitiule 200 feet. We descrilie tn our friends the Ijeauty 

 of its song — they go to its sanctuaries and the Ijird is silent. A liird of such 

 dainty mould should winter in the South. It does, — at times. It also winters 

 at Sumas (in our mirthern horder. This poet of the solitudes, he should avoid 

 the haunts of men. He does, 

 usually. But another time he 

 may be seen hopping from bush 

 to log in a suburban swamp, or 

 moping under the edge of a 

 new sidewalk. Indeed, I once 

 saw a Solitaire flutter up from 

 under a passenger coach, as it 

 lay in station. He had hap- 

 pened to spy some bread 

 crumbs and there was nothing 

 to liinder save the conductor's 

 brisk "all aboard." Surely such 

 a bundle of contradictions you 

 never did see — and all belied by 

 an expression of lamb-like art- 

 lessness and ilolcc far iiicnfc, 

 which would do credit to a 

 rag-doll. 



All observers testify t<T the 

 vocal powers of the Solitaire, 

 and some are most extravagant 

 in the bird's praises. My own 

 notes are very meager. A song 

 heard on Church Mountain, in 

 Whatcom County, May 12, 

 1905, is characterized as "a 

 dulcet strain of varied notes. 

 It reminds one strongly of the 

 Sage Thrasher, but it is some- 

 what less impetuous." In view 

 of this meagerness, I venture 

 to quote at length two older ac- 

 counts, now hidden away in 



volumes not easily accessible. Dr. J. S. Newberry first encountered the Soli- 

 taire in the canon of the Mptolyas River, at the base of Mount Jefferson (Or. ), 

 and declared its song to be full, rich, and melodious, like that of a Miniiis^ 



J^TOoKj 



TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE. 



a. Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., Vol. VI., 1857, p. 82. 



