224 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



for a longer stay the coming summer. Being near 

 Portage, the temptation was irresistible to turn aside 

 for a brief period and visit these beloved haunts where 

 so mam^ birds sing so late in the season. We reached 

 Portageville just at sunset, and as we were ascending 

 the hill that leads to the Cascade House the notes 

 of one solitary wood thrush floated on the evening 

 air ; no other sound came from the woods. It seemed 

 for the hour as if the birds had all left this favorite lo- 

 cality, or had stopped singing for the season ; but early 

 next morning, during a walk in the woods east of the 

 hotel, we heard the wood thrush, cheewink, cat-bird, 

 golden-crowned thrush, Hudsonian and quavering spar- 

 rows and both the red-eyed and solitary vireos ; and 

 later in the day, the indigo bird, purple finch, song 

 sparrow, and scarlet tanager added their voices to the 

 summer chorus. It was pay many fold for the extra 

 journey. In many respects this charming retreat sur- 

 passes any other in its attractions for the naturalist. 

 The flora is more abundant and varied, while the song 

 birds are here in greater numbers than in any other lo- 

 cality of the State. What a field this would have been 

 for Thoreau. What summer idyls he would have writ- 

 ten of the ravine, and of the upper and loAver Letch- 

 worth woods, so full of rare plants and interesting 

 animal life. I often wonder that Burroughs does not 

 substitute for some of his barren pitch pine and scrub 

 oak sections this favored region in which to make 

 excursions. Like "Wordsworth's Yarrow," Portage 

 will bear visiting and revisiting. 



