BALD PEAKS AND GREEN VALES 69 



to take vocal possession of the vale and the steep, pine- 

 clad mountain side, it has seldom been my good fortune 

 to hear. Scores of the birds were singing simultane- 

 ously, some of their voices pitched high in the scale and 

 others quite low, as though they were furnishing both 

 the air and the contralto of the chorus. It was my first 

 opportunity to listen to the songs of any of the several 

 varieties of hermit thrushes, and I freely confess that I 

 came, a willing captive, under the spell of their min- 

 strelsy, so sweet and sad and far away, and yet so rich 

 in vocal expression. In the latter part of the run, 

 which is all too brief, there' is a strain which bears close 

 resemblance to the liquid melody of the eastern wood- 

 thrush, but the opening notes have a pathetic quality 

 all their own. Perhaps Charles G. D. Roberts can give 

 some idea of one^s feelings at a time like this : 



*' O hermit of evening ! thine hour 



Is the sacrament of desire, 

 When love hath a heavenlier flower, 

 And passion a holier fire." 



A happy moment it was when a nest of this moun- 

 tain hermit was discovered, saddled on one of the lower 

 limbs of a pine and containing four eggs of a rich green 

 color. These birds are partial to dense pine forests on 

 the steep, rocky mountain sides. They are extremely 

 shy and elusive, evidently believing that hermit thrushes 

 ought to be heard and not seen. A score or more may 



