202 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



It was on a June afternoon, when the sunbeams 

 slanted lazily through the heavy summer air, tip- 

 ping the fern fronds, and giving a touch of golden 

 enchantment to the brown leaves that strewed the 

 ground. Jree-ah, kree-up, came the sweet, rich 

 call, first from one side and then another, till a 

 dozen thrushes gathered. Then from their leafy 

 covers rose the grave beautiful song. It seemed 

 the choral of a dream, in which each note came 

 forth as an inspiration. 



LXX. 



HERMIT THRUSH. 



IN literature and in the field the tawny and 

 hermit thrushes are constantly confounded. The 

 most marked differences have been given, but 

 there are a few lesser points that may be of use 

 in distinguishing them. The back of the hermit 

 is olive, while the tawny, as his name indicates, 

 has a tawny back. The hermit has the habit of 

 raising his tail and then letting it drop straight 

 down, while the tawny raises his tail higher, and 

 lowers it only to the horizontal. The hermit is 

 shy and solitary ; the tawny sociable and compar- 

 atively confiding. The veery nests in various 

 places ; the hermit, almost always on the ground 

 in a swamp, where he builds with leaves, sedges, 

 and moss. 



