IN THE CATSKILLS 



in this respect; while it has none of the harsh, 

 brassy character of the latter, being very delicate 

 and tender. 



That sharp, uninterrupted, but still continued 

 warble, which, before one has learned to discrim- 

 inate closely, he is apt to confound with the red- 

 eyed vireo's, is that of the solitary warbling vireo, 

 a bird slightly larger, much rarer, and with a 

 louder, less cheerful and happy strain. I see him 

 hopping along lengthwise of the limbs, and note 

 the orange tinge of his breast and sides and the 

 white circle around his eye. 



But the declining sun and the deepening shadows 

 admonish me that this ramble must be brought to 

 a close, even though only the leading characters hi 

 this chorus of forty songsters have been described, 

 and only a small portion of the venerable old woods 

 explored. In a secluded swampy corner of the old 

 Barkpeeling, where I find the great purple orchis in 

 bloom, and where the foot of man or beast seems 

 never to have trod, I linger long, contemplating the 

 wonderful display of lichens and mosses that over- 

 run both the smaller and the larger growths. Every 

 bush and branch and sprig is dressed up in the most 

 rich and fantastic of liveries; and, crowning all, 

 the long bearded moss festoons the branches or 

 sways gracefully from the limbs. Every twig looks 

 a century old, though green leaves tip the end of it. 

 A young yellow birch has a venerable, patriarchal 

 112 



