HERMIT THEUSH. 



TURDUS PALLASI. 



IN the case of the thrushes, as in other cases, it is not 

 easy to find out from the books "which is which." 

 There is a general resemblance in their voices, in their 

 color, in their nests and eggs. Wilson says of this one, 

 " In both seasons it is mute, having only, in spring, an oc- 

 casional squeak like that of a young, stray chicken." 

 Dr. Coues says, " He is an eminent vocalist." Mr. Flagg 

 holds a similar opinion. After no little research in the 

 books and in the woods, I am obliged to record him not 

 only as the greatest singer among the thrushes, but as 

 the greatest singing-bird of New England. The brown 

 thrush, or "thrasher," the cat-bird, and the bobolink 

 display a wider variety of songs ; the bobolink especially, 

 who sings a long, snatchy song, in a rollicking style alto- 

 gether foreign to that of the hermit thrush. He never 

 indulges in mere merriment, nor is his music sad; it is 

 clear, ringing, spiritual, full of sublimity. The wood- 

 thrush does not excel his hermit cousin in sweetness of 

 voice, while he by no means equals him in spirit and 

 compass. The hermit, after striking his first low, long, 

 and firm tone, startling the listener with an electric thrill, 

 bounds upwards by thirds, fourths, and fifths, and some- 



