BIRDS OF THE PASTURE AND FOREST. 



II. 



THE HERMIT-THRUSH. 



The bird whose song I describe in this essay has 

 always seemed to me to be the smallest of the Thrushes. 

 But as I have never killed any bird for the purpose 

 of learning its specific characters, I am liable to be mis- 

 taken in many points of identification. It has been 

 my habit from my earliest years, whenever I heard a 

 note that was new and striking, to watch day after day, 

 until I discovered the songster, and, having always had 

 excellent sight, I have never used a telescope. The bird 

 whose notes I describe below, when I have seen it upon 

 a tree or upon the ground, has seemed to conform more 

 nearly to the description given in books of the Hermit- 

 Thrush, both in size and color, than to that given of the 

 Wood-Thrush. 



The notes of this bird are not startling or readily dis- 

 tinguished. Some dull ears might not hear them, unless 

 their attention was directed to the sounds. They are 

 loud, liquid, and sonorous, and they fail to attract atten- 

 tion only on account of the long pauses between the dif- 

 ferent strains. We must link all these strains together 

 to enjoy the full pleasure they are capable of affording, 

 though any single one alone would entitle the bird to 

 considerable reputation as a songster. He also sings as 

 much at broad noonday as at any other time, differing in 

 this respect from the Veery, who prefers the twilight of 

 morn and even. In another important respect he differs 



