206 THE SOLITAIRE. 



wonderful song and the life no less noble and 

 beautiful. 



Among eight or ten American birds of as 

 many kinds, the solitaire, or, as he is called, the 

 clarin, reminds one of a person of high degree 

 among the common herd. This may sound ab- 

 surd ; but such is the reserve of his manner, the 

 dignity of his bearing, the mystery of his utter- 

 ances, and the unapproachable beauty of his 

 song, that the comparison is irresistible. The 

 mockingbird is a joyous, rollicking, marvelous 

 songster ; the wood thrush moves the very soul 

 with his ecstatic notes ; the clarin equals the 

 latter in quality, with a much larger variety. 

 He is an artist of the highest order ; he is 

 " God's poet," if any bird deserves the name ; 

 he strikes the listener dumb, and transports him 

 with delight. 



The solitaires, Myadestes, or fly-catching 

 thrushes, are natives of the West Indies and 

 Mexico, with one branch in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. My bird was M. obscurus, and came 

 from Mexico. I found him in a New York bird- 

 store, where he looked about as much at home 

 among the shrieking and singing mob of parrots 

 and canaries as a poet among a howling rabble 

 of the " great unwashed." 



Upon a casual glance he might be mistaken 

 for a catbird, being about his size, with plumage 



