From the book

“Widely hailed as the most gifted songster in all of North America . . . He begins with the purest of tones lasting only a third of a second, and then he twirls and whirls through a fluty flourish for a full second to finish his masterpiece . . . His next song is always different from the one he just sang. If you concentrate on the introductory whistle, you’ll hear him leap from song to song, jumping up or dropping down to a strikingly different pitch on the introductory whistle . . .”

Here are three and a half minutes from the singing life of a male Hermit Thrush. Just listen to him leap from one pitch to the next, presenting the next song so that it is especially different from the one he just sang. In the background is a second Hermit Thrush, the two of them countersinging.