202 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 
It was on a June afternoon, when the sunbeams 
slanted lazily through the heavy summer air, tip- 
ping the fern fronds, and giving a touch of golden 
enchantment to the brown leaves that strewed the 
ground. Aree-ah, kree-up, came the sweet, rich 
eall, first from one side and then another, till a 
dozen thrushes gathered. Then from their leafy 
covers rose the grave beautiful song. It seemed 
the choral of a dream, in which each note came 
forth as an inspiration. 
LXX. 
HERMIT THRUSH. 
Tw literature and in the field the tawny and 
hermit thrushes are constantly confounded. The 
most marked differences have been given, but 
there are a few lesser points that may be of use 
in distinguishing them. The back of the hermit 
is olive, while the tawny, as his name indicates, 
has a tawny back. The hermit has the habit of 
raising his tail and then letting it drop straight 
down, while the tawny raises his tail higher, and 
lowers it only to the horizontal. The hermit is 
shy and solitary ; the tawny sociable and compar- 
atively confiding. The veery nests in various 
places; the hermit, almost always on the ground 
in a swamp, where he builds with leaves, sedges, 
and moss. 
