TAMILV Turdidse. 



feathers on sides of the throat; but round in the centrt 

 of feathers on the breast; they do not extend as far 

 down over the under parts as they do upon the Wood 

 Thrush; under parts white with a slight suffusion of 

 buff. Female similarly marked. Nest on the ground; 

 it is built of moss, coarse grasses, and leaves, and lined 

 with rootlets and pine needles. Egg pale green-blue. 

 This bird is common throughout eastern North America; 

 it breeds from the northern United States northward, 

 and southward in the higher Alleghanies to Pennsyl- 

 vania; it winters from southern Illinois and New Jersey 

 to the Gulf States. 



The song of the Hermit Thrush is the grand climax of 

 all bird music; it is unquestionably so far removed from 

 all the rest of the wild-wood singers' accomplishments 

 that vaunted comparisons are invidious and wholly out 

 of place. Still, it is necessary to show the nature of this 

 superb songster's pre-eminence, and that can only be done 

 by comparing his style with that of other birds. Ac- 

 cording to Harrington's estimate of the comparative 

 merits of English song-birds the Nightingale (Philomela 

 luscinia) scores the highest mark in mellowness of tone 

 and depth of expression; in compass of voice and facility 

 of execution he considers the bird without a rival on the 

 other side of the water. But Barrington did not know 

 the Hermit Thrush, and it is doubtful, if he did, whether 

 British prejudice would allow him to remove the Night- 

 ingale from the niche of fame and put in its place an 

 American bird unknown to the poets. For think what 

 that would mean I those who have sung the praises of the 

 Nightingale are many and famous Von Der Vogelweide, 

 Petrarch, Gil Vicente, Shakespeare, Milton, Drummond, 

 Cowper, Coleridge, Byron, Heine, Shelley, Keats, Long- 

 fellow, Arnold, Mulock, and Christina G. Rossetti. 

 What a list it is! And shall the Hermit Thrush reach 

 fame through the medium of greater minds than these ? 

 Note the beauty of this vivid pen-picture by Matthew 

 Arnold: 



" Hark! ah, the Nightingale 

 The tawny-throated! 



256 



