THE THRUSH FAMILY 31 



Shy, elusive, the veery is nevertheless more common 

 in New England than the wood thrush whose range is 

 more southerly. During its spring and fall migrations 

 only does it frequent the elms and maples that men have 

 planted. Take a good look at its tawny coat and lightly 

 spotted cream-buff breast before it goes away to hide. 

 Like Kipling's "cat that walked by himself," the veery 

 prefers the "wild, wet woods," and there its ringing, weird, 

 whistling monotone, that is so melodious without being a 

 melody, seems to come from you can't guess where. The 

 singer keeps hidden in the dense, dark undergrowth. 



But it is not quite the recluse that the hermit thrush 

 is — ^that smallest of the thrushes with a voice as heavenly 

 as an ethereal hymn, where it floats upward from the 

 dim, deep forest. The cool woods of the Adirondacks, 

 the White Mountains, and the Laurentian range in Can- 

 ada are its favorite summer resorts. 



