Birds -- Tennessee; Natural history -- Outdoor books; Tennessee -- Description and travel
I ate my luncheon on Sunset Rock, which literally overhangs the
mountain side, and commands the finest of valley prospects; and
then, after another turn through the pines, where the warblers
were still busy with their all-day meal,--but not the new warbler,
for which I was still looking,--I crossed the summit and made the
descent by the St. Elmo road, as before. How long I was on the way
I am unable to tell; I had learned the brevity of the road, and,
like a schoolboy with his tart, I made the most of it. Midway down I
caught sudden sight of an olive bird in the upper branch of a tree,
with something black about the crown and the cheek. "What's that?" I
exclaimed; and on the instant the stranger flew across the road and
up the steep mountain side. I pushed after him in hot haste, over the
huge boulders, and there he stood on the ground, singing,--a Kentucky
warbler. Seeing him so hastily, and on so high a perch, and missing
his yellow under-parts, I had failed to recognize him. As it was, I
now heard his song for the first time, and rejoiced to find it worthy
of its beautiful author: _klurwée_, _klurwée_, _klurwée_, _klurwée_,
_klurwée_; a succession of clear, sonorous dis-syllables, in a fuller
voice than most warblers possess, and with no flourish before or
after. Like the bird's dress, it was perfect in its simplicity. I
felt thankful, too, that I had waited till now to hear it. Things
should be desired before they are enjoyed. It was another case of
the schoolboy and his tart; and I went home good-humored. Lookout
Mountain was not wholly ruined, after all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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