258 AN OWL’ <gQlEAD HOLIDAY. 
abundance. My first wood thrush was seen for 
a moment only, and although he had given mea 
plain sight of his back, I concluded that my eyes 
must once more have played me false. But 
within a day or two, when half-way down the 
mountain path, [ heard the well-known strain 
ringing through the woods. It was unquestion- 
ably that, and nothing else, for I sat down upon 
a convenient log and listened for ten minutes or 
more, while the singer ran through all those 
inimitable variations which infallibly distinguish 
the wood thrush’s song from every other. And — 
afterward, to make assurance doubly sure, I 
again saw the bird in the best possible position, 
and at short range. On looking into the sub- 
ject, indeed, I learned that his being here was 
nothing wonderful ; since, while it is true, as far 
as the sea-coast is concerned, that he seldom 
ventures north of Massachusetts, it is none the 
less down in the books that he does pass the 
summer in Lower Canada, reaching it, probably, 
by way of the valley of the St. Lawrence. 
A few robins were about the hotel, and I saw 
a single veery in the woods, but the only mem- 
bers of the thrush family that were present in 
large numbers were the hermits. These sang 
everywhere and at all hours. On the summit, 
even at mid-day, I was invariably serenaded by 
them. In fact they seemed more abundant 
