1889
Feb. 16
Enterprise, Florida.
Cloudy most of the day with occasional
intervals of sunshine. Dead calm in p.m. Very 
warm all day.
  Spent the day on the water starting at 9 a.m.
and getting back at dark. My boatman was
Oliver Newton, a farm negro of fine physique &
remarkably intelligent. We skirted the east
shore of L.Monroe thence into L. Bethel thence
across Holden Prairie to Thornbird Prairie. On
the way saw very few birds save in one place
five Louisiana Herons and a Bittern. I killed
the latter sitting and missed one of the Herons
with the other barrel. I also shot a small
alligator, one of seven or eight sunning on a
raft of floating lily roots. We saw several ugly
looking but doubtless harmless water snakes
asleep on bushes several feet above water.
I killed a high Snipe at the place where
I landed to get the Bittern.
  Reaching Thornhill I tried in vain to get
a shot at two Louisiana Herons which kept
alighting on some low line oaks. Under these
oaks we lunched sitting in the boat. It was
a beautiful spot and there were many birds
about us, a Mockingbird, a pair of Blue Jays,
several Red-wings. two Sphyrapicus varius & a
Centirens, a Colaptes, a Red-shouldered Hawk
& a Touhee or two. Back among the trees
a White-eyed Vireo was singing. A snowy white
Heron occasionally flapped his way slowly
across the prairie & an adult [male] Marsh Hawk