This is Bird Note.

Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring, had a really serious relationship with a woman named Dorothy Freeman.

They wrote love letters to each other.

And in those letters, they wrote a lot about one bird that became really special to them.

The Viri, a type of thrush.

The Viri is pretty plain looking, but it has a particularly beautiful song.

Hearing that song and hearing it together became kind of a quest for the two women.

Here's an excerpt from one of Carson's early letters to Freeman.

I think it is quite possible for you and me and the Vieries to be together in some magical time and place next June.

Carson and Freeman lived many states apart,

but the Vieries brought them together, despite the distance.

As I learned the other day,

while I was in Rock Creek Park listening to Vieries and wishing for you,

you were walking along your road listening to wood thrushes and wishing for me.

You can hear the full story about Rachel Carson's love for Dorothy Freeman and the Vary's on our website, birdnote.org.

I'm Liza Yeager.

Music I'm Liza Yeager.