Rainy Weather and Wrens 



Then, however, I think it nearly on a par 

 with that of his kinsfolk, the Wood Thrush 

 or the Hermit — the latter rated by many the 

 most melodious in nature. 



In support of this opinion I may mention 

 the case of a friend who, though a true 

 naturalist by instinct and education, came 

 to me once and declared he had heard a 

 Southern Mocking-bird singing in the wood 

 near his home the previous morning. 



When I suggested that this one must have 

 lost his bearings completely to stray so far 

 up into Pennsylvania — and so early in the 

 season, too — he met my doubt by saying 

 that he would try to find it again and 

 examine it through his field-glass; the 

 result being that he reported a day or two 

 later that his '^Southern Mocking-bird^^ 

 was simply a Brown Thrasher (as I sus- 

 pected), whose wonderful vocal powers 

 were a genuine revelation to him. 



And so they will be to you — if you 

 approach his choir-loft (usually the top- 

 most branch of a small tree where he can 

 feel the early sunshine full upon his face) 



[77] 



