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SCRAPING ACQUAINTANCE. 189 
And yet, for all the unstudied ease and sim- 
plicity of the veery’s strain, he is a great master 
of technique. In his own artless way he does 
what I have never heard any other bird at- 
tempt: he gives to his melody all the force of 
harmony. How this unique and curious effect, 
this vocal double-stopping, as a violinist might 
term it, is produced, is not certainly known ; 
but it would seem that it must be by an arpeggio, 
struck with such consummate quickness and 
precision that the ear is unable to follow it, and 
is conscious of nothing but the resultant chord. 
At any rate, the thing itself is indisputable, and 
has often been commented on. 
Moreover, this is only half the veery’s tech- 
nical proficiency. Once in a while, at least, he 
will favor you with a delightful feat of ventril- 
oquism ; beginning to sing in single voice, as 
usual, and anon, without any noticeable increase 
in the loudness of the tones, diffusing the music 
throughout the wood, as if there were a bird in 
every tree, all singing together in the strictest 
time. Jam not sure that all members of the 
species possess this power, and I have never 
seen the performance alluded to in print; but 
I have heard it when the illusion was complete, 
and the effect most beautiful. 
Music so devout and unostentatious as the 
veery’s does not appeal to the hurried or the 
