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"а since I entered the woods, even while listening to the lesser songsters, or contemplating the 
ni silent forms about me, a strain has reached my ears from out the depths of the forest that 
د‎ to me is the finest sound in nature—the song of the Hermit-Thrush. I often hear him thus 
Ма a long way off, sometimes over a quarter of a mile away, when only the stronger and more 
mi perfect parts of his music reach me; and through the chorus of Wrens and Warblers I detect 
Mus. this sound rising pure and serene, as if a spirit from some remote height were slowly chanting 
Me a divine accompaniment. This song appeals to the sentiment of the beautiful in me, and 
аш suggests a serene religious beatitude as no other sound in nature does. It is perhaps more of 
AR ж an evening than a morning hymn, though I hear it at all hours of the day. It is very simple I 
m and I can hardly tell the secret of its charm. * О spheral, spheral!” he seems to say; ‘O holy, ; 
holy! O clear away, clear away! O clear up, clear up!” interspersed with the finest trills and 
the most delicate preludes. It is not a proud gorgeous strain, like the Tanager's or the 
Grosbeak's; suggests no passion or emotion,—nothing personal,—but seems to be the voice of 
that calm sweet solemnity one attains to in his best moments. ЈЕ realizes a peace and a deep 
solemn joy that only the finest souls may know. А few nights ago I ascended a mountain 
to see the world by moonlight; and when near the summit the Hermit commenced his evening 
hymn a few rods from me. Listening to this strain on the lone mountain, with the full moon 
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just rounded from the horizon, the pomp of your cities and the pride of your civilization seemed 
trivial and cheap." 
Mr. Bicknell writes, in his paper оп the “Singing of Birds,” with regard to the present 
species :—^ Though this little Thrush is always to be found with us during its migrations, it 
= was only after some years of observation that I discovered that it ever sang near the sea-coast 
in this latitude. Either it is very furtive-voiced while it is with us, or singing is exceptional. 
ke: Twice only have I heard its song away from its summer home—April 26, 1878, and April 29, 1879. 
а In both cases the songs were faint and of an unfinished character, and positive identification 
only satisfied me that they were of this species. It is probable that this Thrush sings occasionally 
in the autumn; for there is little doubt that I heard it Oct. 18, 1880. It was in the dusk 
of the early morning, and the song, though several times repeated, was not clearly heard. It was, 
however, from a Hylocichla, and sounded most like that of the Hermit-Thrush, the only one of the 
smaller Thrushes which was present at the time in any numbers. 
*'The call-note of the Hermit-Thrush is very different from that of any other species of its 
group which occurs with us. It is a low chuck, suggestive of the note of a distant Blackbird. 
The Hermit-Thrush possesses the singular habit of demurely raising its tail and allowing it to 
fall back slowly to its natural position; this strange movement recurs at intervals and often 
follows the act of perching. Does it bear any relation to the characteristic caudal activity of the 
Water-Thrushes and some of the Warblers 7” 
Dr. Hatch, in his ‘Birds of Minnesota,’ observes :—“ My earliest personal observation of the 
time of its arrival in the vicinity of where I reside was April 5, 1875. This is a little earlier than 
any which has been reported to me. Other observers corroborate my own records in making 
the general data from the 15th to the 20th of April. It seldom sings immediately after its arrival, 
but in due time those which remain to build nests overflow with the ebullition of fervid melodies. 
I have often listened to the delicious notes, which to my ear are in no way inferior to those of 
the Wood-Thrush. Iam not surprised that those who have heard him for the first time should 
be ready to exalt him higher than the other in the scale of song, when I remember the associations 
i amid which they were found.. The silence, the delicious solitude of this choristry underneath the 
ў shadows of the grand, leaf-canopied forest, awaken feelings, sentiments, and inspirations, eminently 
Ll caleulated to lend enchantment to his liquid, silvery, bell-toned notes, which as they cease are 
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