. Bird-land echoes; . t itsbest; but is its song superior to that of all wood-thrushes? I honestly doubt it. There is such awide range in the musical merits of individual birdsthat it is scarcely fair to make a comparison, and inlocalities where both species occur it would be diffi-cult to determine which bird w^as singing. Does thelocality influence a birds song? This is not a sillyquestion. No caged bird ever sang as well as itsfree brother, not even a mocking-bird ; and may itnot be that the primeval forest the hermit loves sowell, with all its grandeur of giant trees, mossy rocks,still pon
. Bird-land echoes; . t itsbest; but is its song superior to that of all wood-thrushes? I honestly doubt it. There is such awide range in the musical merits of individual birdsthat it is scarcely fair to make a comparison, and inlocalities where both species occur it would be diffi-cult to determine which bird w^as singing. Does thelocality influence a birds song? This is not a sillyquestion. No caged bird ever sang as well as itsfree brother, not even a mocking-bird ; and may itnot be that the primeval forest the hermit loves sowell, with all its grandeur of giant trees, mossy rocks,still ponds, wild water-falls, and the companionshipof natures fiercest forms of life, inspires this thrushto efforts that we seldom hear in the tamer hauntsof its cousin ? but is not the less pretentious wood-thrush sometimes impelled to an unusual effort, and,so moved, does it not accomplish all that makes thehermit one of the musical marvels of the country?I may be wrong, but I have not yet been convincedto the contrary. 9*. CHAPTER IV. PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR. THE popular names that have been given byeverybody—which means no responsible body—to our common birds are about as contradictoryand misleading as are the sound and spelling of someof our words. There is one prominent group in ouravi-fauna that is known collectively as flycatchers,and so might be supposed to be experts or profes-sionals in that line ; yet we have catchers of fliesthat are far more graceful when so engaged andfar more sure in their movements ; that do not missonce where flycatchers fail many times. For in-stance, there are the wood-pewee, the pewees ofour out-buildings and bridges, and the olive-sidedflycatcher that merely passes through the State andsummers in New England,—all professionals, so tospeak. But what of the vireos, the swallows, andthe night-hawks? If we could but gather somestatistics we would stand on firmer ground, and inthis connection I dare venture one or more assertions—not now ; he
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