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* Varyiug estimates have been made of the Veery's powers of song. For myself, I rate this 
bird as one of the sweetest of our songsters, of whose * clear bell-ike notes, resonant, distinct, yet 
soft and of indescribable sadness, I have spoken on à former occasion. I think Dr. Brewer's 
can he ever have heard the Veery's full utterance, and 
faint praise the most cruelly unjust of all; 
«Тһе song of this Thrush is quaint, but not unmusical; variable in its 
then have written: 
character, changing from a prolonged an 
the close”? He speaks as he might of a hurdy-gurdy, instead of an exquisite oboe. Хо one of 
the voices of the woodland is less quaint than the Veery's; по опе is truer to its theme, more 
measured in its cadences, or softer and clearer in its tone than that of the Veery—rival of the Olive- 
back, the Hermit, and the Wood-Thrush, completing the quartette of silver-tongued cantatrices, who 
pledge the promises of spring-time in choral symphony." 
. Mr. Nehrling's notes are as follows :—“ According to my experience the Veery is shy and 
circumspect, more retiring and fonder of solitude than the Wood-Thrush, and consequently rarer 
in woods often frequented by man. As a rule it is found only in the deepest seclusion. It chooses 
for its haunts and nesting-place more swampy and damper spots than its congener, the Wood- 
Thrush. It may be said that the last-named species inhabits the high and low woods, Wilson's 
Thrush the damp woods, and the Hermit the swampy woods of middle and northern Wisconsin, 
notwithstanding that all three species sometimes occur close together. ‘The Veery’s home is in one 
of the most delightful and beautiful parts of the woods. It is always found in the neighbourhood of 
water, either close to a rushing rivulet wandering under thick shrubbery, near a thick gurgling 
spring, or a pond. In such places vegetation is always luxuriant and dense, with here and there 
open spots overgrown with moss, ground-pine (Lycopodium), and winter-green ( Gaultheria procumbens) 
Тһе admirer of the beauties in nature is struck by the wonderful forms of magnificent ferns, 
especially Osmunda cinnamomea, Calapogon pulchellus, Spiranthes, Cypripedium, &c., the varied 
orchids (Arethusa bulbosa) rising from the peaty ground in full splendour, the curious pitcher-plant 
(Sarracenia purpurea), the numerous huckleberry bushes covered with lovely bell-shaped flowers, 
the many different blossoms along the edge of the stream, from among which the dazzling red, and 
later the blue lobelias (Lobelia cardinalis and L. syphilitica) shine forth with the greatest 
brilliancy. The large wide-spreading forest-trees overshadow whole thickets of cranberry, wild 
gooseberry, dogwood, and other bushes. In the region of mixed woods, the pine and hemlock 
thickets greatly heighten the charms of the scene. In the sunlight falling through the high trees 
myriads of mosquitoes, gnats, and other water-Joving insects hover. Тһе whole forest ground is 
covered with old, completely moss-grown logs which have almost turned to soil. One sinks almost 
to the knees into the decomposing mass, which is the very life-spring of the rich plant-growth. 
Except in the hummock woods of Florida, I have never seen such beautifully luxuriant vegetation. 
This is the true home of our Veery. Here the female finds her mate, who has arrived a few days 
earlier; here the beautiful song sounds through the forest, here the nest is built, and the young 
raised. In this silent solitude the Veery must be sought, if the friend of nature, and especially 
of bird-life, would make its acquaintance. Care, however, is taken by the endless swarms of 
blood-thirsty mosquitoes that man shall not enter this seclusion with impunity. 1 think it is 
just the haunts chosen by this Thrush that are the cause of its being considered rarer than 16 
really is. 
«The Veery is one of the most exquisite songsters of its forest solitude. It is in truth a rival 
of the Hermit, the Olive-back, and the Wood-Thrush. One hardly knows to which to award the 
palm. In many respects the Veery's song reminds one of the Wood-Thrush, but it is not so loud 
and flute-like, and seems to be more modulated. The bird sings so diligently that it is often heard 
long after sunset. Hence in some places in New England the bird has been called the * Nightingale.’ 
d monotonous whistle to quick and almost shrill notes at 
