AUTUMN HUNTING 237 



make our aim uncertain. We move a little closer 

 ard again take aim, and this time he cannot escape 

 lis. Carefully our double-barrelled binoculars 

 cover him, and we get what powder and lead could 

 never give us — ^the quick glance of the hazel eye, 

 the trembling, half-raised feathers on his head, 

 and a long look at the beautifully rounded form 

 perched on the twig, which a wanton shot would 

 destroy forever. The rich rufous colouring of 

 the tail proclaims him a singer of singers — a her- 

 mit thrush. We must be on the watch these days 

 for the beautiful wood thrush, the lesser spotted 

 veery, the well named olive-back and the rarer 

 gray-cheeked thrush. We may look in vain among 

 the thrushes in our bird books for the golden- 

 crowned and water thrush, for these walkers of 

 the woods are thrushes only in appearance, and 

 belong to the family of warblers. The long-tailed 

 brown thrashers, lovers of the undergrowth, are 

 still more thrush-like in look, but in our classifica- 

 tions they hold the position of giant cousins to the 

 wrens. Even the finches contribute a mock thrush 

 to our list, the big, spotted-breasted fox sparrow,, 

 but he rarely comes in number before mid October 

 or November. Of course we all know that our 

 robin is a true thrush, young robins having their 

 breasts thickly spotted with black, while even 

 the old birds retain a few spots and streaks on 

 the throat. 

 If we search behind the screen of leaves and 



