Song Birds and Water Fowl 



above them. A dainty touch of color was af- 

 forded in an apple-tree, where a little blue^ 

 winged yellow warbler was feasting on the 

 blossoms, while far overhead an immense hawk 

 was sailing majestically — a juxtaposition of 

 two of the most diverse types and moods in 

 the feathered kingdom. 



The impression of this walk should be sup- 

 plemented by making the return trip along the 

 upper edge of the Palisades, where at almost 

 any point one may look down a perfectly sheer 

 and dizzy depth of hundreds of feet, the veiy 

 edge of the rocky wall being mostly unwooded, 

 carpeted with grass, and illuminated with saxi- 

 frage, violets, wild columbine, and other flow- 

 ers. Here the traveller obtains one of the 

 finest views of this noble river, unsurpassed ex- 

 cept where it winds among bold promontories 

 in the vicinity of West Point, resembling a 

 long and narrow lake rather than a flowing 

 stream; as well it may, when we consider that 

 its entire descent, from Albany to its mouth, 

 one hundred and forty-five miles, is only five 

 feet. Water must be extremely solicitous to 

 find its "level, when it will spy out so slight an 

 incline as less than half an inch to the mile. 



Along the way were several scarlet tanagers 

 24 



