1889
March 18
Tallahassee, Florida.
Early morning clear and warm with high wind.
Clouds gathered by 10 a.m. and about noon a
succession of heavy showers with lightning began &
lasted until sunset.
  Took breakfast a 6.45 and started at about
7 with the boy Wiley as driver. The morning was
perfect save for the wind and birds were keeping
on all sides, chiefly Mockingbirds & Cardinals.
  By the roadside there were many wild flowers
conspicuous among them a large shrub which I
take to be a species of Pyrus (Auralanchua?) (Pirus angustifolia) with
deep pink blossoms, a superb thing fully as
beautiful as a wild apple. The wild plums
were past and nearly all their blossoms shed
although on the 16th they seemed to be at their
prime. Mistletoe and live oaks in flower. Also
what I take to be the rum cherry, a large tree here.
Also Cornus florida. I see both Hornbeams if I
am not mistaken, the Ostrya, the more abundant 
of the two and just leafing out.
  We drove directly to the pond in the woods
when I saw Ducks (F. collaris) on the 22nd.
They come all there this morning or, rather, there
had been some changes for to-day, there were
8 [females] and 4 [males]. After some maneuvering my
boy drove them within shot of the place
where I lay concealed.. I got three of the
drakes together and firing one barrel stopped
them all. One, however, afterwards rose, flew
across the pond & got into some bushes so
I only secured two. We then drove back to