22 WAKE-ROBIN 
imitator, he never approaches the serene beauty and 
sublimity of the hermit thrush. The word that 
best expresses my feelings, on hearing the mocking- 
bird, is admiration, though the first emotion is one 
of surprise and incredulity. That so many and 
such various notes should proceed from one throat 
is a marvel, and we regard the performance with 
feelings akin to those we experience on witnessing 
the astounding feats of the athlete or gymnast, — 
and this, notwithstanding many of the notes imi- 
tated have all the freshness and sweetness of the 
originals. The emotions excited by the songs of 
these thrushes belong to a higher order, springing as 
they do from our deepest sense of the beauty and 
harmony of the world. 
The wood thrush is worthy of all, and more than 
all, the praises he has received; and considering 
the number of his appreciative listeners, it is not a 
little surprising that his relative and equal, the 
hermit thrush, should have received so little notice. 
Both the great ornithologists, Wilson and Audubon, 
are lavish in their praises of the former, but have 
little or nothing to say of the song of the latter. 
Audubon says it is sometimes agreeable, but evi- 
dently has never heard it. Nuttall, I am glad to 
find, is more discriminating, and does the bird 
fuller justice. 
It is quite a rare bird, of very shy and secluded 
habits, being found in the Middle and Eastern 
States, during the period of song, only in the deep- 
est and most remote forests, usually in damp and 
