116 LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY 



in his vocal powers which barred him from, uttering 

 more than a few notes of his song, gave voice to the 

 solitude of the place. This was the second instance 

 in which I have observed a song-bird with apparently- 

 some organic defect in its instrument. The other 

 case was that of a bobolink, which, hover in mid- 

 air and inflate its throat as it might, could only force 

 out a few incoherent notes. But the bird in each 

 case presented this striking contrast to human exam- 

 ples of the kind, that it was apparently just as proud 

 of itself, and just as well satisfied with its perform- 

 ance, as its more successful rivals. 



After deliberating some time over a pocket com- 

 pass which I carried, we decided upon our course, 

 and held on to the west. The descent was very 

 gradual. Traces of bear and deer were noted at dif- 

 ferent points, but not a live animal was seen. 



About four o'clock we reached the bank of a 

 stream flowing west. Hail to the Beaverkill! and 

 we pushed on along its banks. The trout were 

 plenty, and rose quickly to the hook; but we held 

 on our way, designing to go into camp about six 

 o'clock. Many inviting places, first on one bank, 

 then on the other, made us linger, till finally we 

 reached a smooth, dry place overshadowed by balsam 

 and hemlock, where the creek bent around a little 

 flat, which was so entirely to our fancy that we un- 

 slung our knapsacks at once. While my companions 

 were cutting wood and making other preparations for 

 the night, it fell to my lot, as the most successful 

 angler, to provide the trout for supper and breakfast. 



