30 The Birds of Albany County 



plumage and low, purring call-note. The song, once heard, 

 is never forgotten. I have found this Thrush the commonest 

 in the wooded land south of the Schenectady Turnpike, near 

 Wolf Road. 



The nest is placed on or near the ground and contains four 

 or five greenish-blue eggs. 



Wood Thrush. — Hylockhla mustelina. 8.28 



Summer Resident; not Common 



Field marks. — Head and upper parts reddish-brown; breast 

 full, ashy to white, with large round black spots. 



When Emerson said that the morning woods are filled with 

 angels, he had probably just heard the matutinal song of the 

 Wood Thrush. Had he listened to the same bird gushing 

 forth its evening hymn in some cool, dark wood he doubtless 

 would have gone further and proclaimed the arrival on earth 

 of some beatified spirit with lyre and voice divine. The 

 concept is easy of comprehension. While the vocal perfor- 

 mance of several other birds may be more brilliant, surely no 

 feathered creature on the American continent can so deeply 

 stir the soul as the Wood Thrush. It has several songs, all 

 extremely fine, but the one that I allude to, which has 

 always seemed to me to be the bird's evening hymn, is 

 something more than mere melody. It has a flooding quality. 

 The soft voice of the flute is joined pianissimo by the wood 

 wind choir and then, the quivering strings perfecting the 

 harmony, the wildwood is suddenly swept with delicious music. 



