THE MOUNTAINS 351 



Burroughs long ago wrote of the ' ' serene exaltation of 

 spirit ' ' occasioned by the song of the Hermit Thrush, and 

 when one is already thrilled by the majesty of the snow- 

 crowned mountains and awed by the grandeur of the for- 

 ests, the calm, pure, heavenly hymn of the Hermit reaches 

 chords in one 's nature untouched before. 



Throughout this region, the Hermit, (Hylocichla guttata 

 auduboni) is a common bird, its song season lasting until 

 the end of July, while the Olive-backed Thrush (Rylocichla 

 ustulata subsp.), which, as a songster, is not far behind him 

 in rank, is even more common. The Western Robin, which 

 differs from its eastern representative only in the absence of 

 white on the tips of the outer tail-feathers, a third member 

 of the Thrush family, is also generally distributed and shows 

 a ready disposition to abandon its forest ways for a home 

 about the haunts of man. At Glacier, to this trio of 

 Thrushes is added the Varied Thrush, a bird of striking ap- 

 pearance and remarkable voice. As large as the Robin, the 

 back is gray, the underparts rich brown, with a broad black 

 band crossing the breast. The song of the Varied Thrush 

 cannot be compared to that of any other bird whose notes 

 are known to me. It is the song of the wind, sung by a bird ; 

 a single, long-drawn, double-toned, wonderfully vibrant 

 whistle of one note. When the singer is near, it rises with 

 swelling resonance until the woods echo with its singular 

 timbre, then dies away without once conveying a definite 

 idea of the bird's whereabouts. In a moment or two it is 

 repeated, now in a different key, but always with the inde- 

 scribable ringing quality which makes it unique among the 

 songs of American birds. He who actually sees the bird in 

 the act of singing, may count himself fortunate. Indeed, in 

 the forests about Glacier, the bird is at all times difficult to 

 discover. Here, from July 18 to 20, 1907, we heard at least 

 fifty Varied Thrushes, but did not see one. On a former vis- 

 it, later in the month, they frequented the lawn before the 

 hotel to gather food for their still unfledged young ; a strik- 



