Page:Excursions (1863) Thoreau.djvu/58

50 Flitting thy lonely way,

A meteor in the summer's day,

From wood to wood, from hill to hill,

Low over forest, field, and rill,

What wouldst thou say?

Why shouldst thou haunt the day?

What makes thy melancholy float?

What bravery inspires thy throat,

And bears thee up above the clouds,

Over desponding human crowds,

Which far below

Lay thy haunts low?

The late walker or sailor, in the October evenings, may hear the murmurings of the snipe, circling over the meadows, the most spirit-like sound in nature; and still later in the autumn, when the frosts have tinged the leaves, a solitary loon pays a visit to our retired ponds, where he may lurk undisturbed till the season of moulting is passed, making the woods ring with his wild laughter. This bird, the Great Northern Diver, well deserves its name; for when pursued with a boat, it will dive, and swim like a fish under water, for sixty rods or more, as fast as a boat can be paddled, and its pursuer, if he would discover his game again, must put his ear to the surface to hear where it comes up. When it comes to the surface, it throws the water off with one shake of its wings, and calmly swims about until again disturbed.