LIFE OF WILSON. 
clxxxiii 
beautiful simplicity of nature, gave her willing consent; and 
the little fellow went off, on the wings of ecstasy, to execute 
his delightful commission. 
‘‘ The similitude of this little boy’s enthusiasm to my own, 
struck me; and the reader will need no explanations of mine to 
make the application. Should my country receive with the 
same gracious indulgence the specimens which I here humbly 
present her; should she express a desire for me to go and bring 
her more, the highest wishes of my ambition will be gratified; 
for, in the language of my little friend, our whole woods are 
full of them! and 1 can collect hundreds more, much hand- 
somer than these.” 
In a work abounding with so many excellencies, it would 
not be difficult to point out passages of merit, any one of which 
would give the author a just claim to the title of a describer of 
no ordinary powers. 
We select the following description, from the history of the 
Wood Thrush: At whatever time the wood thrush may ar- 
rive, he soon announces his presence in the woods. With the 
dawn of the succeeding morning, mounting to the top of some 
tall tree, that rises from a low thick-shaded part of the woods, 
he pipes his few, but clear and musical, notes in a kind of ec- 
stasy; the prelude or symphony to which strongly resembles 
the double-tongueing of a German flute, and sometimes the 
tinkling of a small bell. The whole song consists of flve or 
six parts, the last note of each of which is in such a tone, 
as to leave the conclusion evidently suspended; the finale 
is finely managed, and with such charming effect, as to sooth 
and tranquillize the mind, and to seem sweeter and mellower 
at each successive repetition. Rival songsters, of the same spe- 
cies, challenge each other from diflerent parts of the wood, 
seeming to vie for softer tones, and more exquisite responses. 
During the burning heat of the day they are comparatively 
mute; but in the evening the same melody is renewed, and 
continued long after sunset. Even in dark, wet and gloomy 
