396 ORNITHOLOGY. 



of that range it was met with but once, a single individual having been 

 obtained, on the second of June, in the Truckee Valley, not far from the 

 eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, tlie individual in question being no 

 doubt a last lingering one, since no others were observed after that date, 

 all having departed for the mountains to the westward. Tlie s])ecies is 

 known to migrate in winter southward along the Pacific slope as far as 

 Costa Rica, but its summer-home is chiefly among the forest-clad mount- 

 ains and wooded valleys from California to British Columbia and Sitka. 



The song of this Tlu-ush much resembles that of the T. swainsoni, but is 

 different in some important respects, conspicuous ■ among which is its finer 

 quality. Its modulation is quite con-ectly expressed by Mr. Nuttall [Mamial 

 of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada, I, 1840, p. 401], who 

 describes it as resembling the syllables "wit-wit, fvillia-fvillia" ; but to 

 convey to the reader even the slightest idea of its tone and effect would 

 be the vainest endeavor. We heard the enchanting songs of these birds 

 under circumstances calculated to make a lasting impression. It was 

 in the midst of the dense and lofty forests of the Sierra Nevada, about 

 half way up the western slope, that we rested for the Sabbath from our 

 joui'ney across the mountains. Hemmed in and overshadowed by giant 

 forest trees, we halted, with rippling and sparkling brooks from the snow- 

 fields far above dashing through the ferns and varied herbage, the roadside 

 bedecked Avith the gay and lovely flowers so characteristic of Californian 

 glades, while below yawned the depths of a dark ravine, through which 

 dashed and roared a mountain torrent. In the tall pines, overhead, skulked 

 the noisy Jays and Nutcrackers {Cyanura frontalis and Picicorvus colmibi- 

 anus), mingling their discordant notes with the twittering of the wood- 

 peckers, who sported about the branches of the dead trees. But certain 

 outbursts of rarest melody, heard at intervals from the dark recesses of the 

 deep ravine, drew the attention of every one in camp ; notes of exceeding 

 simplicity, }('t full of tcndci>'st expression and thrilling effect, far finer than 

 the softest and sweetest notes of the flute. These harmonious carols Avould 

 be taken up first by one, then by another, musician, then answered from a 

 distant portion of the dell. It was long before the author of these wild 

 melodies could be seen, but patient search revealed a little brown bird, 



