BIRDS AFTER THE SNOW STORM. 9 



spieuous in his dark face. Then I caught a glimpse 

 of a group of robins and song sparrows on the 

 ground. There seemed to be one alien member flit- 

 ting about, a bird of peculiarly soft coloring and 

 graceful figure. I drew nearer, and there he was, the 

 bird of birds, the archangel of the summer choir, the 

 hermit thrush. He was not in the least shy. I saw 

 him twenty times yesterday morning, and again in 

 the afternoon, nearly always on the ground, often not 

 more than ten feet away. He posed for me in the 

 most obliging fashion, so that I could see him from 

 every point of view. Once he was kind enough to 

 stand directly under the branch whereon the fox 

 sparrow was sitting, so that I could compare the birds 

 at my leisure. 



To a novice, who catches a hasty glimpse only, the 

 fox sparrow and the hermit thrush might look very 

 much alike. They are practically of the same length, 

 a trifle over seven inches; each has a bright squirrel- 

 red tail and a spotted breast; but when placed near 

 together, the differences are marked. The bills alone 

 should distinguish them, for there is no similarity be- 

 tween the conical one of the sparrow and the long, 

 slender one of the thrush. Their figures are quite 

 unlike, the sparrow being rather heavy and "chunky," 



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