18 IN THE FLAT WOODS. 



ever listened. He was in the bushes close 

 at my side, in the Franconia Notch, and de- 

 livered his whole song, with all its customary 

 length, intricacy, and speed, in a tone a 

 whisper, I may almost say that ran along 

 the very edge of silence. The unexpected 

 proximity of a stranger may have had some- 

 thing to do with his conduct, as it often 

 appears to have with the thrasher's; but, 

 however that may be, the cases are not 

 parallel with that of the pine-wood sparrow, 

 inasmuch as the latter bird not merely sings 

 under his breath on special occasions, whether 

 on account of the nearness of a listener or 

 for any other reason, but in his ordinary sing- 

 ing uses louder and softer tones interchange- 

 ably, almost exactly as human singers and 

 players do ; as if, in the practice of his art, 

 he had learned to appreciate, consciously or 

 unconsciously (and practice naturally goes 

 before theory), the expressive value of what 

 I believe is called musical dynamics. 



I spent many half-days in the pine lands 

 (how gladly now would I spend another !), 

 but never got far into them. (" Into their 

 depths," my pen was on the point of making 

 me say ; but that would have been a false 



