WILDERNESS RESERVES 309 



noteworthy. Once I heard a solitaire singing at the top 

 of a canyon, and an ousel also singing but a thousand feet 

 below him; and in this case I thought the ousel sang 

 better than his unconscious rival. The ousels are to my 

 mind wellnigh the most attractive of all our birds, be- 

 cause of their song, their extraordinary habits, their 

 whole personality. They stay through the winter in the 

 Yellowstone because the waters are in many places open. 

 We heard them singing cheerfully, their ringing melody 

 having a certain suggestion of the winter wren's. Usually 

 they sang while perched on some rock on the edge or 

 in the middle of the stream; but sometimes on the wing; 

 and often just before dipping under the torrent, or just 

 after slipping out from it onto some ledge of rock or 

 ice. In the open places the Western meadow lark was 

 uttering its beautiful song; a real song as compared to 

 the plaintive notes of its Eastern brother, and though 

 short, yet with continuity and tune as well as melody. I 

 love to hear the Eastern meadow lark in the early spring; 

 but I love still more the song of the Western meadow 

 lark. No bird escaped John Burroughs' eye; no bird 

 note escaped his ear. 



I cannot understand why the Old World ousel should 

 have received such comparatively scant attention in the 

 books, whether from nature writers or poets; whereas 

 our ousel has greatly impressed all who know him. John 

 Muir's description comes nearest doing him justice. To 

 me he seems a more striking bird than for instance the 

 skylark; though of course I not only admire but am very 

 fond of the skylark. There are various pipits and larks 



