BIRDS OF THE PASTURE AND FOREST. 121 



THE VEERY, OR WILSON S THRUSH. 



The Veery is perceptibly larger than the Hermit, and is 

 marked in a similar manner, save that the back has more 

 of an olive tinge. He arrives early in May, and is first 

 heard to sing during some part of the second week of that 

 month. He is not one of our familiar birds ; and unless 

 we live in close proximity to a wood that is haunted by a 

 stream, we seldom hear his voice from our doors and win- 

 dows. He sings neither in the orchard nor the garden. 

 He shuns the town, and reserves his wild notes for those 

 who live in cottages by the woodside. All who have 

 once become familiar with his song await his arrival with 

 impatience, and take note of his silence in midsummer 

 with regret. Though his song has not the compass and 

 variety of that of the Hermit, it is more continuous and 

 delivered with more fervor. Until this little bird arrives, 

 I feel as an audience do at a concert before the chief 

 singer appears, while the other performers are vainly en- 

 deavoring to soothe them by their inferior attempts. 



The Veery is more shy than any other important singing- 

 bird except the Hermit. His haunts are solitary woods, 

 usually in the vicinity of a pond or a stream. Here, 

 especially after sunset, he warbles his few brilliant but 

 plaintive strains with a peculiar cadence, and fills the 

 whole forest with music. It seems as if the echoes were 

 delighted with his notes, and took pleasure in passing 

 them round with multiplied reverberations. I am confi- 

 dent that this little warbler refrains from singing when 

 others are vocal, from the pleasure he feels in listening 

 either to his own notes or to the melodious responses 

 which others of his own kindred repeat in different parts 

 of the wood. Hence, he chooses the dusk of evening 

 for his tuneful hour, when the little chirping birds are 

 silent, that their voices may not interrupt his chant. 



