THE RETURN OF THE BIRDS. 31 



jominon birds literally throng this idle-wild ; and I 

 have met here many of the rarer species, such as tho 

 great-crested fly-catcher, the solitary warbler, the 

 blue-winged swamp-warbler, the worm-eating warbler, 

 the fox-sparrow, etc. The absence of all birds of 

 prey, and the great number of flies and insects, both 

 the result of proximity to the village, are considera- 

 tions which no hawk-fearing, peace-loving minstrel 

 passes over lightly ; hence the popularity of the re- 

 sort. 



But the crowning glory of all these robins, fly- 

 catchers, and warblers is the wood-thrush. More 

 abundant than all other birds, except the robin and 

 cat-bird, he greets you from every rock and shrub. 

 Shy and reserved when he first makes his appearance 

 hi May, before the end of June he is tame and fa- 

 miliar, and sings on the tree over your head, or on the 

 rock a few paces in advance. A pair even built their 

 nest and reared their brood within ten or twelve feet 

 of the piazza of a large summer-house in the vicinity. 

 But when the guests commenced to arrive and the 

 piazza to be thronged with gay crowds, I noticed 

 something like dread and foreboding in the manner 

 of the mother-bird ; and from her still, quiet ways, 

 and habit of sitting long and silently within a few 

 feet of the precious charge, it seemed as if the dear 

 sreature had resolved, if possible, to avoid all obser- 

 T ation. 



If we take the quality of melody as the test, the 

 wood-thrush, hermit-thrush, and the veery-thrush, 

 itand at the head of our list of songsters 



