APRIL BIRDS. 35 



referring to the abrupt termination of its 

 song, says : " If it could give us the finish- 

 ing strains, of which this seems only the 

 prelude, it would stand first among feath- 

 ered songsters." In the White Mountains 

 this song and that of the hermit-thrush 

 are much admired by the summer pilgrim, 

 and they are even mentioned in the guide- 

 books among the other attractions of the 

 region. How few that have been charmed 

 with the music of these birds in their 

 native wilds are aware that for a brief 

 period every spring they pour forth the 

 same melody almost at our very door- 

 steps ! It is now generally admitted that 

 all birds sing, mere or less fitfully, during 

 the spring migration, and it has lately 

 been one of my most cherished dreams to 

 hear the hermit-thrush (^turdjis pallasii) 

 here at home in my own woods. I have 

 already seen him this spring flitting 

 through the woods like a ghost, silent 

 and songless. In a few days, like the 

 white-throated sparrow, he will have 

 moved on in his journey to the North, and 



