24 THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 



he never approaches the serene beauty and sublimity 

 of the hermit-thrush. The word that best expresses 

 my feelings, on hearing the mocking-bird, is admiration, 

 though the first emotion is one of surprise and incredu- 

 lity. That so many and such various notes should 

 proceed from one throat is a marvel, and we regard 

 the performance with feelings akin to those we experi- 

 "ii witnessing the astounding feats of the athlete 

 or gymnast, — and this, notwithstanding many of the 

 notes imitated have all the freshness and sweetness of 

 the originals. The emotions excited by the songs of 

 these thrushes belong to a higher order, springing as 

 they do from our deepest sense of the beauty and har- 

 mony of the world. 



The wood-thrush is worthy of all, and more than all, 

 the praises he has received ; and considering the num- 

 ber of his appreciative listeners, it is not a little sur- 

 prising that his relative and equal, the hermit-thrush, 

 should have received so little notice. Both the great 

 ornithologists, Wilson and Audubon, are lavish in their 

 praises of the former, but have little or nothing to say 

 of the song of the latter. Audubon says it is some- 

 times agreeable, but evidently has never heard it. 

 Nuttall, I am glad to find, is more discriminating, and 

 does the bird fuller justice. 



It is quite a rare bird, of very shy and secluded 

 habits, being found in the Middle and Eastern States, 

 during the period of song, only in the deepest and 

 most remote forests, usually in damp and swampy 



