summer-house in the vicinity. But when the guests commenced to arrive
and the piazza to be thronged with gay crowds, I noticed something
like dread and foreboding in the manner of the mother bird; and from
her still, quiet ways, and habit of sitting long and silently within a
few feet of the precious charge, it seemed as if the dear creature had
resolved, if possible, to avoid all observation.

If we take the quality of melody as the test, the wood thrush, hermit
thrush, and the veery thrush stand at the head of our list of
songsters.

The mockingbird undoubtedly possesses the greatest range of mere
talent, the most varied executive ability, and never fails to surprise
and delight one anew at each hearing; but being mostly an imitator, he
never approaches the serene beauty and sublimity of the hermit thrush.
The word that best expresses my feelings, on hearing the mockingbird,
is admiration, though the first emotion is one of surprise and
incredulity. That so many and such various notes should proceed from
one throat is a marvel, and we regard the performance with feelings
akin to those we experience on witnessing the astounding feats of the
athlete or gymnast,--and this, notwithstanding many of the notes
imitated have all the freshness and sweetness of the originals. The
emotions excited by the songs of these thrushes belong to a higher
order, springing as they do from our deepest sense of the beauty and
harmony of the world.

The wood thrush is worthy of all, and more than all, the praises he
has received; and considering the number of his appreciative
listeners, it is not a little surprising that his relative and equal,
the hermit thrush, should have received so little notice. Both the