HEART OF THE SOUTHERN CATSKILLS 47 



song is in a minor key, finer, more attenuated, 

 and more under the breath than that of any- 

 other thrush. It seemed as if the bird was 

 blowing in a delicate, slender, golden tube, so 

 fine and yet so flute-like and resonant the song 

 appeared. At times it was like a musical 

 whisper of great sweetness and power. The 

 birds were numerous about the summit, but we 

 saw them nowhere else. No other thrush was 

 seen, though a few times during our stay I 

 eaught a mere echo of the hermit's song far 

 down the mountain-side. A bird I was not 

 prepared to see or hear was the black poll war- 

 bler, a bird usually found much farther north, 

 but here it was, amid the balsam firs, uttering 

 its simple, lisping song. 



The rocks on the tops of these mountains are 

 quite sure to attract one's attention, even if he 

 have no eye for such things. They are masses 

 of light reddish conglomerate, composed of 

 round wave- worn quartz pebbles. Every peb- 

 ble had been shaped and polished upon some 

 ancient seacoast, probably the Devonian. The 

 rock disintegrates where it is most exposed to 

 the weather and forms a loose sandy and pebbly 

 soil. These rocks form the floor of the coal 

 formation, but in the Catskill region only the 

 floor remains; the superstructure has nevei 

 existed or has been swept away; lience om 

 would look for a coal mine here over his head 

 in the air, rather than under his feet. 



This rock did not have to climb up here as 

 we did; the mountain stooped and took it upon 



