224 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 
for a longer stay the coming summer. Being near 
Portage, the temptation was irresistible to turn aside 
for a brief period and visit these beloved haunts where 
so many birds sing so late in the season. We reached 
Portageville just at sunset, and as we were ascending 
the hill that leads to the Cascade House the notes 
of one solitary wood thrush floated on the evening 
air; no other sound came from the woods. It seemed 
for the hour as if the birds had all left this favorite lo- 
cality, or had stopped singing for the season ; but early 
next morning, during a walk in the woods east of the 
hotel, we heard the wood thrush, cheewink, cat-bird, 
golden-crowned thrush, Hudsonian and quavering spar- 
rows and both the red-eyed and solitary vireos; and 
later in the day, the indigo bird, purple finch, song 
sparrow, and scarlet tanager added their voices to the 
summer chorus. It was pay many fold for the extra 
journey. In many respects this charming retreat sur- 
passes any other in its attractions for the naturalist. 
The flora is more abundant and varied, while the song 
birds are here in greater numbers than in any other lo- 
cality of the State. What a field this would have been 
for Thoreau. What summer idyls he would have writ- 
ten of the ravine, and of the upper and lower Letch- 
worth woods, so full of rare plants and interesting 
animal life. I often wonder that Burroughs does‘not 
substitute for some of his barren pitch pine and scrub 
oak sections this favored region in which to make 
excursions. Like “ Wordsworth’s Yarrow,” Portage 
will bear visiting and revisiting. 
