258 AN OWL'S HEAD HOLIDAY. 



abundance. My first wood thrush was seen for 

 a moment only, and although he had given me a 

 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, I 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 



