164 WOOD NOTES WILD. 



Tawny Thrush. — Contin. 



come before the public, I shall expect to hear people 

 generally say, as they look at them, ' Why ! is that all ! ' 

 etc., etc. The song of the Wilson thrush is an illustration 

 of what I mean. It is very short, but nothing can exceed 

 its bewitching beauty. It is all on the swing and jingle : " 



Letter from S. P. C. to Franklin Fairbanks, Esq., dated Jan. 3, 1886. 



Hermit Thrush. {See p. 59.) 



Mr. Nelson, in a careful comparison of the singing of 

 this thrush with that of the wood thrush and of the veery, 

 makes it stand out very distinctly. With his accustomed 

 accuracy, he mentions the abrupt change of key. (In his 

 Bird-songs about Worcester, p. 111.) 



Mr. Burroughs describes the hermit's song as higher in 

 key, " more wild and ethereal," than that of the wood 

 thrush. " His instrument is a silver horn, which he 

 winds in the most solitary places. The song of the wood 

 thrush is more golden and leisurely. Its tone comes near 

 to that of some rare stringed instrument." But finer than 

 all, the hermit's song is to him " the voice of that calm, 

 sweet solemnity one attains to in his best moments. It 

 realizes a peace and a deep solemn joy that only the 

 finest souls may know." (Ivi his Wake-robin, pp. 33, 60.) 



As Samuels heard the song of this thrush it was so 

 similar to that of the wood thrush that for a long time 

 he supposed it to be the wood thrush that was singing. 

 Not so Nuttall : — 



