G78 



HERMIT THRUSH. 



the hammocks, where it may be seen scratching ainoiiu; tlie ik'c:iviiig leaves aid otlier 

 debris in search of insects. It is very unsuspicious while in tliese southern wilds; some- 

 times an individual would come into our camp, when we chanced to pitch our tents near 

 a thicket, aud perching on a box or barrel, gaze at us incpiisitively, occasiounlly raising 

 and then lowering its tail, while it gave vent to its astonishment by a low chirp. They 

 are very numerous ; every hammock and thicket bus its share ; they even inhabit the 

 bushy edges of the thick palmetto swamps, the dark and dismal recesses of which are 

 seldom visited by any birds, excepting the nocturnal species. All winter they tlit silently 

 among the luxuriant vegetation of Ploridn, revelling throughout the season amid Howers. 

 But when the cool, refreshing noi'th winds cea.se to blow, and the burning heat of the 

 semi-tropics comes over the land, the Hermit prompted by instinct, commences its steady 

 march northward. The old males go fii-st, followed by the young males and females, so 

 that by the middle of April not one is to be found within the Ihnits of the state. 



The earliest migrants arrive in Massachusetts the first week in April ; others continue 

 to come until the first of May, when, with the exception of a few individuals, they have 

 all passed to the great breeding grounds in the woods of the North. While migrating in 

 the spring this thrush is somewhat shy and retiring, generally keeping in the swamps. 

 At this season it has no song, excepting the low note of alarm, but in its home among the 

 hemlocks and spruces it is far different in this respect ; there it sings finely. 



I well remember that I tii'st heard its song at Hyannis, in south-eastern Massachu- 

 setts, during the last week in June, when in company with my friends, Messrs. Wm. 

 Brewster and F. P. Atkinson. We were walking in a field, near one of those woods, 

 composed of low scrubby trees, which cover a l^rge portion of this section of tlie state, 

 when Mr. Brewster exclaimed, " Hear that Hermit Thrush ! " We listened for a moment 

 for a repetition of the song, which his quick ear had detected, and soon heard the clear, Ijell- 

 like notes, coming from the fiir depths of the wood, through the still morning air. The 

 scene was peculiar, and the song thus became associated with it, and will not soon be 

 forgotten. The bird sung well, but the song lacked the accompanying loud, ringing echo 

 heard to perfection in the deep, heavily wooded valleys of Northern New England. 



Although it breeds sparsely at Hyannis and in some other sections of Massachusetts^ 

 its true home is farther north. Here, in the dense shade of the evergreens, amid tlie giant 

 trunks which stand around like sentinels, it builds its nest upon the ground by the side of 

 some moss-grown log. The situations chosen are generally upon some gently sloping 

 hillside, and the nest is jilaced in such a position as to be hidden, especially if the lirown- 

 backed mother bird be upon it. She sits very closely, as if aware of this fact; genernlly 

 not starting until the intruder is about to tread upon her, when she will flit silently to the 

 cover of some thicket, and remain concealed — for this species, like the Olive-backed, is 

 not very assiduous in defending its nest, even when it contains young. They exercise 

 great judgment in selecting material with which to cover the outside of the nest, so that 

 it may not readily lie discovered. One which I found built on the upper side of a pros- 

 trate mossy log, was sunk into the decaying wood so that the to[i was on a level with the 



