THRUSHES 



?35 



the Thrush S(in!j;s in that it is usuahy hegun w ith 

 a long, hquiii, nu-llow note. This introfhictory 

 tone glides into the first phrase, composed of 

 several perfectly slurred tones in an ascending 

 and descending scale. Within a few seconds the 

 phrase is repeated at a pitch about a minor third 

 higher ; then it is delivered again and again in 

 a steadily ascending scale, until fairly dizzying 

 vocal heights are attained. Here the singer 

 pauses for a few minutes, only to go back to the 

 lower pitch and proceed as before. 



Following are records of the songs (if two 

 Hermits as reduced to musical notation by F. 

 Schuvler Mathews : 



Rendered on a piano these phrases convey 

 only a very faint suggestion of the matchless 

 beauty of this song. A very fine flute or a pic- 

 colo, if perfectly handled, or a violin with skill- 

 ful use of harmonics, would more nearly suggest 

 the singer's tone, which, after all, as has been 

 said, really cannot be accurately rejiroduced bv 

 any musical instrument. 



To Air. Burroughs it suggests " a serene 

 religious beatitude as no other sound in nature 



dues." and in his book. I J 'a he Rolnii. he records 

 this fine appreciation: 



".\ few nights ago I ascended a mountain to 

 see the world by moonlight ; and when near the 

 summit the Hermit commenced his evening hvmn 

 a few rods away from nie. Listening to this 

 strain on the lone mmmtain. with the full mnun 

 just rounded from the horizon, the pomp of your 

 cities and the pride of your civilization seemed 

 trivial and cheaji." No wonder the bird is called 

 the " Swamp Angel " ! 



Another of this great artist's temperamental 

 peculiarities is that he rarely sings responsively 

 with others of his kind, which the Wood Thrush 

 often seems tri be deliberately trying to do. And 

 again, unlike the Wood Thrush, and more par- 

 ticularly such birds as the Robin, the Catbird, 

 and the I'rown Thrasher, who seem to enjoy 

 singing to a human audience, the Hermit is likely 

 to become altogether silent if he sees or suspects 

 the presence of a listener. Undoubtedly it is for 

 these reasons, and because of the bird's solitary 

 habits, that this really wonderful song is com- 

 paratively little known. Even the great ornithol- 

 ogists, \\'iIson and Audubon, apparently never 

 clearly identified it. Both give the Wood Thrush 

 full credit for his musical genius, but Audubon 

 i-\i(lentlv had never heard the song of the 

 Hermit! riEORCE Gl.xdden. 



In spring and summer the Hermit Thrush 

 feeds mainly on insects, but in fall and winter it 

 partakes largely of various wild fruits and 

 berries. Examination of sixty-eight stomachs 

 showed animal matter to the extent of 56 per 

 cent, and \'egetable 44 per cent. The proportion 

 varies little in the different months. On the 

 whole, the food of the Hermit Thrush is re- 

 markably free from useful products, destruction 

 of which is a loss to mankind. The worst that 

 can be said of the bird is that it eats and scatters 

 the seed of poison oak, but it does not do this to 

 a marked degree. 



In the western part of North America there 

 arc five variants of the Hermit Thrush. The 

 ,\laska Hermit, or Kodiak Dwarf. Thrush (f/v- 

 lociclila guttata guttata ) is ranked as the type 

 species; it breeds in the coast district of Alaska 

 and winters south to Lower California, Mexico, 

 and Texas. In size it is a little smaller than the 

 Eastern Hermit and the brown of the upper parts 

 is grayish instead of russet. 



The Dwarf Hermit Thrush (Hylociclila gut- 

 tata nanus) breeds in the coast district of .\laska 

 and British Columbia and in the winter goes 



