THE HERMIT THRUSH 53 



earth, my soul has more than once 

 affirmed. Over this rise, and somewhat 

 to the west, Mount Kinsman begins to 

 reach and reach toward Franconia Notch ; 

 but Mount Cannon completes the task 

 with his mighty bulwark and the "Great 

 Stone Face," which seems expectantly to 

 await some great event in the coming 

 centuries! Could a poet conceive of a 

 more fitting place in which to hear the 

 song of the hermit thrush? 



Sitting on a bowlder in this clearing, I 

 have heard as many as five hermit thrushes 

 all singing at the same time; and it was 

 quite a common experience to hear a duet, 

 in the early evening, the two birds answer- 

 ing each other from the opposite edges of 

 the woods, their song sounding out over 

 the clearing like a cathedral antiphon. 

 With such an opportunity for comparison 

 as this clearing afforded, it soon became 

 evident that every hermit sings a song of 

 individual peculiarity. Indeed, the differ- 

 ences are as marked as are the features 



