THE HERMIT THRUSH 47 



back if only he can hear a supreme song 

 just as God made it? 



Admitting that my testimony is not 

 very significant (for I am neither a natu- 

 ralist nor a musician), yet I want to give 

 it, because I want to help those who are 

 trying to make our supreme American 

 songster more widely known. All enthu- 

 siastic testimony attracts attention to the 

 bird. Many of the most famous bird 

 singers I have heard, my list including the 

 wood thrush, the European nightingale, 

 the veery, and that splendid but most 

 unappreciated bird, the Western lark; 

 but the hermit thrush alone reaches my 

 deeper manhood and influences me pro- 

 foundly. In trying to describe the effect 

 upon me of the hermit's song I hardly 

 know what to say. Perhaps, though, the 

 ultimate effect may be suggested in this 

 way: If Schumann's "Traumerei" could 

 hold fast its dreamy reminiscence and still 

 take on hope, say such a glowing hope as 

 so often appears in some of Bach's mighty 



