1886
May 21
Oden, Michigan
Forenoon clear; P. M. cloudy; wind W. to S. W. light. Ther. 75[degrees] at noon.
  A tremendous rush of birds to-day, chiefly Warblers,
the sexes of most species in nearly equal numbers. In all
I must have seen six to eight hundred individuals
of the genus Dendroica alone. Most abundant were
D. maculosa and D. coronata, then D. caerulescens, D. blackburniae, D. striata
D. tigrina, D. virens, D. pennsylvanica, D. palmarum etc.
H. ruficapilla excessively abundant, H. peregrina fairly so.
  Spent the entire day shooting coming in only
to dinner. Although I was on my feet nearly the
whole day and probably walked six or eight miles
I did not once get three hundred yards away
from the house. The most of my birds were shot
near the bath house and behind the barn.
Warblers were in large mixed flocks precisely as in
autumn. Several flocks contained at least 100
birds each. All the species were engaged most of
the time in catching flying Diptera. They kept much
in the tops of the tallest deciduous trees (yellow
birches & poplars especially).
  Near the spring heard a Grouse drumming &
following the path I walked by within ten yards
of him. he was sitting on a mossy log when I
first saw him his head turned so that his bill
pointed back over his tail, his general attitude
slouching, his feathers ruffled. I sat down in full
sight of him & he maintained this attitude without
the slightest motion for nearly two minutes. Then
he stretched up his neck & began to [?] & shake
his ruffs. Finally he hopped down on the ground
& the next instant flew. A [female] has a nest only 50 yards off.