-\S8 



Hints to Aiidiibon lVo7^kers. 



Mr. Brewster says it is a common phrase of 

 the Wilson's from the mountains of North 

 CaroHna to Maine and Labrador. I have 

 heard it modified into a rapid run resemb- 

 Hng titaree. As far as I have observed, this 

 bleating call is usually connected with flight, 

 or motion of some kind. 



The commonest calls of the veery when 

 undisturbed are kree-ah and kree-up. His 

 kree' -whee-a is in a higher key and suggests 

 alarm. One day I went through the bushes 

 where a family of young were hiding. The 

 mother sat on a branch looking down in 

 dismay, anxiously wagging her tail. Whee- 

 ah! she called, and then added in under- 

 tone what seemed to be a warning, and 

 sounded like be stilt, be still ! 



Sitting on a stump in the raspberry patch, 

 I have drawn a number of veerys about me 

 by imitating their kree-a/i, and one of the 

 rarest forest concerts I ever listened to be- 

 gan with this call. It was on a June af- 

 ternoon, when the sunbeams slanted lazily 

 through the heavy summer air, tipping the 

 fern fronds, and giving a touch of golden 

 enchantment to the brown leaves that strew- 

 ed the ground. Kree-ah, krec-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. 



HERMIT THRUSH. 



In literature and in the field the tawny 

 and hermit thrushes are constantly con- 

 founded. 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. The tawny raises his tail 

 higher, and lowers it only to the horizontal. 

 The hermit is solitary and shy; the tawny 

 sociable and comparatively confiding. The 



veery nests in various places; the hermit, 

 almost always on the ground in a swamp, 

 building with leaves, sedge and moss. 



The call of the tawny is greatly varied; 

 the hermit has a peculiar, nasal cJiucti, which, 

 Mr. Bicknell says, suggests "the note of a 

 distant blackbird." 



The low, sweet, trilled song of the tawny 

 bears little resemblance to the loud, richly 

 modulated song of the hermit; but as they 

 have been mistaken for each other, it may 

 be well to give the approximate relations 

 of time and note, in musical phrase, Like 

 the song of the tawny, the hermit's is di- 

 vided into three parts, going down the scale. 

 But the trill is, here, only the middle of each 

 phrase. 



^ 



>>. 



5? 



Variations from this occur in broken 

 sones as: 





Sis 



At a little distance, this is probably the 

 most beautiful song of our woods. Mr. 

 Burroughs says to him it is the finest sound 

 in nature. In the Adirondack region the 

 retiring hermit is appropriately known as 

 the "swamp angel." 



Comparing his song with that of the 

 wood thrush, Mr. Burroughs says: "The 

 cast of its song is very much like that of 

 the wood thrush, and a good observer 

 might easily confound the two. But hear 

 them together and the difference is quite 

 marked: the song of the hermit is in a 

 higher key, and is more mild and ethereal. 

 His instrument is a silver horn which he 

 winds in the most solitary places. The 

 song of the wood thrush is more golden 

 and leisurely. Its tone comes near to that 

 of some rare stringed instrument." In an- 

 other place he says: "Through the general 

 chorus of wrens and warblers I detect this 



