THE BIRDS OF PRINCETON. Ill 



in vain. I shall return to the mountain to- 

 morrow* evening, and hope to hear it a 

 second time ; but it would not be necessary 

 in order to convince me more positively 

 that I had heard the hermit-thrush. There 

 is no possibility of confounding it with the 

 veery; the three or four simple bars of 

 the veery's beautiful song have nothing in 

 common with it. It is more like the song 

 of the wood-thrush, but with all the disagree- 

 able features eliminated. It is a continu- 

 ous, not an interrupted song like that of 

 the wood-thrush. Then the hermit's song 

 is much simpler than his, and wants the 

 jingles and staccato notes of the wood- 

 thrush's song, which are generally con- 

 sidered such blemishes. Then there is 

 absolutely nothing corresponding to the 

 beautiful airoee of the wood-thrush. The 

 song I heard consisted of three soft melo- 

 dious whistles in the same key, followed 

 immediately by three more notes in a very 

 different key. The whole was repeated in 

 rapid succession until it ceased altogether. 

 That it was the hermit-thrush I am sure, 



