THE HERMIT THRUSH. 



I am sorry, children, that I 

 cannot give you a specimen of 

 my song as an introduction to 

 the short story of my life. One 

 writer about my family says it 

 is like this: ^'0 spheral, spheral! 



holy, holy! O clear away, 

 clear away! clear up, clear 

 up!" as if I were talking to the 

 weather. May be my notes do 

 sound something like that, but 



1 prefer you should hear me 

 sing when I am alone in the 

 woods, and other birds are 

 silent. It is ever being said of 

 me that I am as fine a singer as 

 the English Nightingale. I 

 wish I could hear this rival of 

 mine, and while I have no doubt 

 his voice is a sweet one, and I 

 am not too vain of my own, I 

 should like to ''compare notes" 

 with him. AVhy do not some of 

 you children ask your parents to 

 invite a few pairs of Nightin- 

 gales to come and settle here? 

 They would like our climate, 

 and would, I am sure, be wel- 

 comed by all the birds with a 

 warmth not accorded the Eng- 

 lish Sparrow, who has taken 

 possession and, in spite of my 



love for secret hiding places, 

 will not let even me alone. 



AVhen you are oldei", children, 

 you can read all about me in 

 another part of Birds. I will 

 merely tell you here that I live 

 with you only from May to 

 October, coming and going away 

 in company with the other 

 Thrushes, though I keep pretty 

 well to myself while here, and 

 while building my nest and 

 bringing up my little ones I 

 hide myself from the face of 

 man, although I do not fear his 

 presence. That is why I am 

 called the Hermit. 



If you wish to know in what 

 way I am unlike my cousin 

 Thrushes in appearance, turn 

 to pages 84 and 182, Yol. 1, of 

 Birds. There you will see their 

 pictures. I am one of the small- 

 est of the family, too. Some 

 call me '' the brown bird with 

 the rusty tail," and other names 

 have been fitted to me, as 

 Ground Gleaner, Tree Trapper, 

 and Seed Sower. But I do not 

 like nicknames, and am just 

 plain, 



Hermit Thrush. 



89 



