72 JN THE HEMLOCKS. 



crown are dark blue ; his throat and breast, black ; his 

 belly, pure white ; and he has a white spot on each 

 wing. 



Here and there I meet the black and white creeping- 

 warbler, whose fine strain reminds me of hair-wire. It 

 is unquestionably the finest bird-song to be heard. Few 

 insect strains will compare with it in this respect ; while 

 it has none of the harsh, brassy character of the latter, 

 being very delicate and tender. 



That sharp, uninterrupted, but still continued warble, 

 which, before one has learned to discriminate closely, 

 he is apt to confound with the red-eyed vireo's, is 

 that of the solitary warbling vireo, — a bird slightly 

 larger, much rarer, and with a louder, less cheerful 

 and happy strain. I see him hopping along length- 

 wise of the limbs, and note the orange tinge of his 

 breast and sides and the white circle around his eye. 



But the declining sun and the deepening shadows 

 admonish me that this ramble must be brought to a 

 close, even though only the leading characters in this 

 chorus of forty songsters have been described, and only 

 a small portion of the venerable old woods explored. 

 In a secluded swampy corner of the old Barkpeeling, 

 where I find the great purple orchis in bloom, and 

 where the foot of man or beast seems never to have 

 trod, I linger long, contemplating the wonderful dis- 

 play of lichens and mosses that overrun both the 

 smaller and the larger growths. Every bush and 

 branch and sprig is dressed up in the most rich and 



