84 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 
~~ 
in search of the showy lady’s slipper, which grew in this 
locality. Suddenly a gush of tender melody broke the 
stillness of the place, and held me spellbound by its 
magic strain. I followed the sound through bushes and 
brambles, over fallen logs and treacherous bogs, stopping 
occasionally to take breath and to listen to the oft- 
repeated song. Presently, only a few yards away, the 
little bird dropped down from a higher to a lower 
projection of the root of an upturned tree, and with 
flutter of wings and vibrating body, continued his 
song. 
During an hour that I remained in the vicinity, he 
sang almost continually, often moying from place to 
place, and all the time apparently courting attention, 
much in the manner of the house wren. Probably he 
had a nest and mate near by, but I failed to find them. 
I am confident these wrens breed in, this vicinity, as I 
have often found them in pairs and heard them sing in 
this immediate place during the months of May, June 
and July, and for several years in succession. 
With the exception of the thrushes, I could better 
spare any other vocalist of the woods. He delights me 
in such out of the way places, and in haunts to most 
unknown. When I persuade a doubting friend to go 
with me to his retreats, he is quite sure to reward my 
faith by making his appearance, and always with harp 
tuned for music. It is a curious phenomenon that when 
we have discovered something for which we have longed 
and searched, how frequently the object appears to us 
afterwards, So, too, objects rare to most people appear 
