a Savanna Sparrow which proved on dissection to be a [female]
with ovaries so underdeveloped that the granulation was
invisible to the naked eye. The bird was probably barren.
  Returning I was passing through the meadow just
south of the railroad and north of the Maple Swamp
when a Virginia Rail began crying out in sharp tones
in a thicket on the bank of Alewife Brook. Going to
the spot where her cries issued I discovered her skulking
through the briary tangle within ten feet of me. I shot
at her twice with my 22cal. barrel killing her the second
shot. She would have laid within a week or two judging
from the appearance of the ovary. This is the only Rail
I have seen near Cambridge this year.
  Georg met me with the buggy at 1 P. M. As we drove
through Lake View Avenue on the way home I saw
several Grackles carrying mud into the pines behind
Mr. Smith's, an old time breeding ground of theirs.
  The maples were in dense leaf to day quite
shutting out the sky in places & casting a perfect shade
Pyrus arbutifolia still in bloom. A few ragged faded
white violets. Noted no other flowers.
[margin]Vegetation[/margin]