CHANGES IN HERMIT - LIFE 



winged bunting. I consider it a rare treat 

 to listen to this sweet singer. I made it a 

 practice, during the season of song, to stop 

 by this old pasture, not only to hear the 

 sparrow, but a brown thrush as well. The 

 thrush occupied the other side of the old 

 highway, and when he saw me coming, he 

 would mount to the top of a small tree and 

 sing so long as I remained to listen. 



Farther along on the old road, a pair of 

 redstarts could be found every spring. The 

 male did his singing in a wild apple-tree. 

 From this spot, down " Slaughter-house Hill," 

 to Western Avenue, I found song-sparrows 

 to be the prevailing bird. There were a few 

 chestnut-sided warblers, robins, and catbirds. 



The birds I have mentioned, that nest 

 along the old road, look upon me with 

 friendly eyes as I pass. When they re- 

 turn in the spring, they give a greeting which 

 I understand, because the notes are in a higher 

 key, and are never repeated through the sum- 

 mer. While passing daily over the road I 

 have made it a practice to talk to the birds. 

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