Song Birds and Water Fowl 
above them. A dainty touch of color was af- 
forded in an apple-tree, where a little blue- 
winged yellow warbler was feasting on the 
blossoms, while far overhead an immense hawk 
was sailing majestically —a juxtaposition of 
two of the most diverse types and moods in 
the feathered kingdom. 
The impression of this walk should be sup- 
plemented by making the return trip along the 
upper edge of the Palisades, where at almost 
any point one may look down a perfectly sheer 
and dizzy depth of hundreds of feet, the very 
edge of the rocky wall being mostly unwooded, 
carpeted with grass, and illuminated with saxi- 
frage, violets, wild columbine, and other flow- 
ers. Here the traveller obtains one of the 
finest views of this noble river, unsurpassed ex- 
cept where it winds among bold promontories 
in the vicinity of West Point, resembling a 
long and narrow lake rather than a flowing 
stream; as well it may, when we consider that 
its entire descent, from Albany to its mouth, 
one hundred and forty-five miles, is only five 
feet. Water must be extremely solicitous to 
find its level, when it will spy out so slight an 
incline as less than half an inch to the mile. 
Along the way were several scarlet tanagers 
24 
