A CAPTIVATING HERMIT 31 



me ; then on again to the next rock, where 

 he repeated the programme. And so he pro- 

 ceeded, greeting me gracefully from the top of 

 every eminence before he ran on to the next, 

 until he gained the cover of the woods across 

 the open, all in the most dignified way. 



This experience seemed to give the bird 

 courage, for the next time he found me in 

 my customary seat he mounted a stump, sang 

 a snatch of his song, ran to a low bush and 

 added a few more notes, came to the ground, 

 where he foraged among the dead leaves a 

 minute, then up again on a bent sapling, bub- 

 bling over in joyous notes ; and thus he went 

 on singing and eating in the most captivat- 

 ing way, and in apparent indifference to his 

 unobtrusive but delighted spectator on the 

 rock. I was surprised ; this bird being one 

 of our greatest singers, I had a feeling that 

 a certain amount of " dress parade " must 

 accompany his performance. Indeed, those 

 of his kind I had seen before had always 

 taken a " position " to sing. 



If the hermit-thrush could be persuaded 

 to end his chant with the second clause, he 

 would be unapproachable as a musical per- 



