138 WOOD NOTES AND NEST HUNTING. 



heard, not querulous, as they settled themselTes on 

 the cedars, and bade each other good-night. The 

 wood-thrush is the songster, the rara avis chorister 

 in this temple. It is not until evening that his 

 throat is properly cleared for the performance; 

 the bird seems to be inspired by his own hymn ; 

 it is expressive of delicate and refined thought, 

 and awakens the poetic and spiritual sentiment in 

 the mind of the listener. 



The deepening shadows bring out the ghostly 

 night-moths winging abroad to be preyed upon by 

 the whip-poor-wills. 



Standing in the road, and looking back in the 

 lingering twilight upon the dark mass lifting itself 

 beyond the nearer fields, I would that some power 

 other than imagination be given me, to see dis- 

 tinctly the situation of each little songster, now 

 silent and at rest, in there among the leaves. 



