Mr. Nehrling gives the following notes on the s p e c i e s “ The highly interesting Hermit-
Thrush might be called the * May Blossom* of out birds. Its charms are manifold, but the
enthusiastic observer and lover of birds is rarely able to penetrate the solitude of its swampy northern
woodland home. In the Eastern States the Hermit is one of the best known and most common of
our Thrushes, at least occasionally in spring and autumn. Usually it is confounded with the
similar but somewhat larger Olive-backed Thrush, from which it may be distinguished at the
very fiist glance by its reddish-brown tail. On this account the bird is sometimes called the
Rufous-tailed Thrush. It further differs from the Olive-back, by appearing in spring fully
two weeks sooner and returning two or even three weeks later in the fall. Being restricted to
the Canadian fauna it nests only in the Northern and in the high mountain woods of the
the Eastern States, but it is abundant in many parts of the Middle States during migration.
The Southern States are its winter-quarters. I have observed the Hermit every year in small
companies or in pairs in Illinois from about the beginning to the middle of October and in
Southern Missouri towards the end of the same month. At this time they fearlessly and
unsuspectingly enter gardens close to dwellings and look for insects on the ground and among
the fallen leaves. I found them most common along the bushy, low, and damp edges of woods,
which are at this time the favourite resort of a great number of different birds bound for the:
south or north. Finches—especially Fox-coloured Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, White-
throated Sparrows, Slate-colored Juncos, and others—are the constant companions of the Hermit.
In spring it is the first of all the smaller Thrushes to return from its winter-quarters. Even
in the beginning of April I have seen these birds on their way to their northern breeding haunts.
They often tarry from one to two weeks before deciding to continue their journey.
‘ During its stay in spring it will return daily with great regularity to the same clump
of trees or thickets, and to the same garden. In the neighbourhood of Houston, Texas, and
thence westward to Austin, it is one of the most common winter visitors. It keeps in the
dense shrubbery that borders the bayous, rivers, creeks, and branches, along the margins of the
bottom woods and in the neighbourhood of fields, but always where it has as companions, besides
the birds above mentioned, hundreds of Cardinals, Towhees, Thrashers, Yellow-breasted Chats,
Carolina Wrens, Myrtle Birds, and many others. Here, too, the Hermit seeks the greater part
of its food on the ground, though it eats many berries, especially those of the holly and Mexican
mulberry. On entering, some time between November and March, their sheltered haunts, overgrown
mostly with evergreen trees and shrubs, such as the magnificent magnolias, hollies, cherry-laurels,
wax myrtles, red bay, loblolly bay, and many deciduous trees, a whole host of the most varied
species of birds rises from the ground to settle on the trees and bushes. All remain perfectly
silent; only the Hermit utters a soft ‘ chuck.* While residing in my simple cabin in the woods
near the Yegua Creek, in Texas, I had the best of opportunities during the whole winter to
observe these Thrushes in my immediate neighbourhood. Though there were hundreds of them
in the thickets near the creek, I never saw more than from six to ten individuals together, and
these were usually scattered over a considerable portion of the woods. At the warning note
of one of these Thrushes not only all other Hermits but even the swarms of Finches and other birds
rapidly disappeared in the nearest tangled thickets. I never heard the song during their winter
stay or during migration. Towards the end of February and the beginning of March they begin
to leave South-eastern Texas, and by the middle of the latter month the last stragglers seem to
have departed for the north/*
Mr. John Burroughs, ip his little book I Wake-Robin,’ gives a very beautiful description of
the song of the Hermit-Thrush. He observed this bird especially in the Adirondac Mountains.
The description shows what an eye and ear he has for everything beautiful in nature:— “ Ever
since X entered the woods, even while listening to the lesser songsters, or contemplating the
s i l e n t forms about me, a strain has reached my ears from out the depths of the forest that
to me is the finest sound in na tur e-the song of. the Hermit-Thrush. I often hear him thus
a long way off, sometimes over a quarter of a mile away, when only the stronger and more
perfect parts of his music jreach me; and through the chorus of Wrens and Warblers I detect
this sound rising pure and serene, as if a spirit from some remote height were slowly chanting
a divine accompaniment. This song appeals to the sentiment of the beautiful in me, and
suggests a serene religious beatitude as no other sound in nature does. It is perhaps more of
an evening than a morning hymn, though I hear it at all hours of the day. It is very simple
and I can hardly tell the. secret o f its charm. 9O 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 i s-not -a proud gorgeous strain, like the Tanager s or the
Grosbeak’s ; suggests no passion or emotion,—nothing personal,—hut seems to he the voice ot
that.calm sweet solemnity, one attains to. in his best moments. It realizes a peace and a deep
solemn joy that only the finest souls., may know. A 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 foil moon,
j iit . 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 on the “ Singing of Birds,” with regard to the present
s p e c i e s Though 'this little Thrush is always to he 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.
Twice only have I heard its song away from its summer home—April 26, 1878, and April 29, 1879.
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 Bylodclila, 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 ”
Dr. Hatch, in his ‘Birds of Minnesota,’ o b s e r v e sMy 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. I am not surprised that those who have heard him for the first time should
he ready to exalt him higher than the other in the. scale of song, when I remember the associations
amid which they were found. The silenee, the delicious solitude of this choristry underneath the
shadows of the grand, leaf-canopied forest, awaken feelings, sentiments, and inspirations, eminently
calculated to lend enchantment to his liquid, silvery, bell-toned notes, which as they cease are