It is so very shy that it is rarely seen and yet, during migration time, I once discovered a solitary hermit in a tree on a vacant lot only a few blocks from the business center of Cleveland. Because we sit quietly for hours at a time in the Maine woods, we have been vouchsafed many glimpses of its olive-brown back, its reddish-brown tail (the mark of identification), and its rather thickly spotted white and brown breast. We have noticed its habit of raising its tail as it alighted; we have heard its call-note chuck.
Moore’s Rock, Castine, Maine, commands an enchanting view of Penobscot Bay, of distant hills, and of spruce woods that are tenanted by veeries, olive-backed, and hermit thrushes. There we make frequent pilgrimages, to hear them sing at sunset.
Beneath glowing skies and in the silence, the hermit raises his exquisitely modulated voice in a strain of ethereal beauty; pauses, then in a higher key, repeats it; a third time, with still loftier elevation of tone, he sings,—and sings again.
More than once at twilight, a white fog has moved in from the bay and enveloped us as we listened. The voices of these thrushes, proceeding from the sea of mist, have seemed more like those of spirits from another world than of birds—unspeakably uplifting and full of significance.
AFTERWORD
The great psychologist, William James, preached the doctrine that it was immoral to have emotions that did not bear fruit in action,—a doctrine that many educators and teachers are putting into practice nowadays.
Music, art, noble architecture, poetry, fine prose, the drama, and the beauties of nature, all of which arouse the emotion of joy and minister to our higher natures, were formerly sought as means of self-development or culture—one of the great ends to be attained in life. Excessive cultivation of one’s self is now regarded by broad-minded people as a refined form of selfishness (often intellectual snobbishness), unless with it there exists a sense of responsibility and an attempt to assist in making possible by some form of activity a more nearly universal sharing of these pure forms of pleasure.
The conservation of forests, the preservation of scenic wonders, of wild flowers, of native animals and birds for the enjoyment of all, has become the aim of a great movement throughout the country. It is well known that the fine balance of nature is maintained by birds, and that upon them depend in large measure the preservation of forests, parks, gardens, orchards, and farms.
As they are so truly our benefactors and furnish us with so much genuine enjoyment and absorbing interest, we are under obligation to repay their services to us by some form of service to them, which will minister also to the well-being of our communities. The formation of Audubon Societies, the spreading of knowledge by means of bird-books, illustrated bird-lectures, and the invaluable bulletins easily obtainable at the Government Printing Office, Washington; the erection of bird-houses and baths, and of feeding-tables for the winter; the furthering of wise legislation regarding bird-protection and the supplying of bird-wardens in some localities to help carry out the laws; intelligent and humane regulations to prevent the depredations of cats; the creation, wherever possible, of bird-sanctuaries and preserves, and the planting of trees and shrubs which will attract birds are a few of the ways in which we may make practical our interest in birds and add to the well-being of our land.
THE END