iSl^u^sins tl^e Cletent]^ 



Through a Forest 



I DO not think there is a songster that for deli- 

 cacy, plaintiveness, and sweetness of note com- 

 pares with the white-throated sparrow. The 

 first time I heard him was some years ago in the 

 otherwise utter silence of a dense forest. Before 

 that I preferred the wood-thrush, but he is only a 

 clear, strongsinger, without emotion or passion in his 

 voice, but this new musician appealed to the heart. 

 He is as plaintive, without any of the sadness of 

 the dove. He sings on a high key, calling his first 

 note the lowest of the octave, the four notes follow- 

 ing are on the sixth above. But the bird is both 

 rare and shy, and I was not aware of the exquisite 

 perfection of his song till recently. At the dis- 

 tance at which he is usually heard, the notes are 

 simple, but very sweet. As I was sitting silent in 

 my canoe a few days ago, one flew into a birch over 

 my head and began to sing, and then I heard the 

 trill of each of his higher notes; and one just now 

 regaled me with a song, sitting in a tree above my 

 cabin. It is not a mere trill, but a peculiarity of 

 the trill which has not, I think, ever been intro- 

 duced into music. It is perfectly charming. They 

 are not visible when singing, keeping themselves 



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