IN THE HEMLOCKS. 93 



while it has none of the harsh, brassy char- 

 acter of the latter, being very delicate and 

 tender. 



That sharp, uninterrupted, but still con- 

 tinued warble, which, before one has learned 

 to discriminate closely, he is apt to confound 

 with the red-eyed vireo's, is that of the soli- 

 tary warbling vireo ; a bird slightly larger, 

 much rarer, and with a louder, less cheerful 

 and happy strain. I see him hopping along 

 lengthwise of the limbs, and note the orange 

 tinge of his breast and sides and the white 

 circle around his eye. 



But the declining sun and the deepening 

 shadows admonish me that this ramble must 

 be brought to a close, even though only the 

 leading characters in this chorus of forty 

 songsters have been described, and only a 

 small portion of the venerable old woods ex- 

 plored. In a secluded, swampy corner of the 

 old Bark-peeling, where I find the great pur- 

 ple orchis in bloom, and where the foot of 

 man or beast seems never to have trod, I lin- 

 ger long, contemplating the wonderful dis- 

 play of lichens and mosses that overrun both 

 the smaller and the larger growths. Every 

 bush and branch and sprig is dressed up in 

 the most rich and fantastic of liveries ; and, 



