by the dimness of the spots upon his breast.  The wood thrush has very clear, distinct oval spots on a white ground; in the hermit, the spots run more into lines, on a ground of a faint bluish white; in the veery, the marks are almost obsolete, and a few rods off his breast presents only a dull yellowish appearance.  To get a good view of him you have only to sit down in his haunts, as in such cases he seems equally anxious to get a good view of you.

From those tall hemlocks proceeds a very fine insect-like warble, and occasionally I see a spray tremble, or catch the flit of a wing.  I watch and watch till my head grows dizzy and my neck is in danger of permanent displacement, and still do not get a good view.  Presently the bird darts, or, as it seems, falls down a few feet in pursuit of a fly or a moth, and I see the whole of it, but in the dim light am undecided.  It is for such emergencies that I have brought my gun.  A bird in the hand is worth half a dozen in the bush, even for ornithological purposes; and no sure and rapid-progress can be made in the study without taking life, without procuring specimens.  This bird is a warbler, plainly enough, from his habits and manner; but what kind of warbler?  Look on him and name him:  a deep orange or flame-colored throat and breast; the same color showing also in a line over the eye and in his crown; back variegated black and white.  The female is less marked and brilliant.  The orange-throated warbler would seem to be his right name, his characteristic cognomen; but no, he is doomed to wear the name of some discoverer, perhaps the first who rifled his nest or robbed him of his mate,—­Blackburn; hence Blackburnian warbler.  The burn seems appropriate enough, for in these dark evergreens his throat and breast show like flame.  He has a very fine warble, suggesting that of the redstart, but not especially musical.  I find him in not other woods in this vicinity.

I am attracted by another warble in the same locality, and experience a like difficulty in getting a good view of the author of it.  It is quite a noticeable strain, sharp and sibilant, and sounds well amid the the old trees.  In the upland woods of beech and maple it is a more familiar sound than in these solitudes.  On taking the bird in hand, one can not help exclaiming, “How beautiful!” So tiny and elegant, the smallest of the warblers; a delicate blue back, with a slight bronze-colored triangular spot between the shoulders; upper mandible black; lower mandible yellow as gold; throat yellow, becoming a dark bronze on the breast.  Blue yellow-back he is called, though the yellow is much nearer a bronze.  He is remarkably delicate and beautiful,—­the handsomest as he is the smallest of the warblers known to me.  It is never without surprise that I find amid these rugged, savage aspects of nature creatures so fairy and delicate.  But such is the law.  Go to the sea or climb the mountain, and with the ruggedest and the savagest you will find likewise the fairest and the most delicate.  The greatness and the minuteness of nature pass all understanding.