1889
(June 7)
meadow. He had been out all day (at Wayland) & had had
no supper. Was about to start for home etc. I pressed him
to stay & offered a share of my lunch which settled the
question. As we were eating it the Big Rail(?) suddenly
called in the cat-tail swamp to the south very nearby
when I heard him on the 5th. Kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk-
kuk-kuk-cree-cree-ee the cry prolonged and so loud
that it was almost startling though uttered fully 200 yds
away. We listened nearly an hour for another repetition
(Faxon joining us in the meantime) but heard nothing
except the usual voices of these meadows. It was nearly
dark when we left; evidently our stranger is not nocturnal!
  Red-wings, Swamp Sparrows, & Marsh Wrens singing before
sunset, the last two well into the twilight, also. An
occasional Coccyzus erythropthalimus cooed in the willows & a
Grosbeak sang once somewhere to-wards Buch Island. As
twilight fell Carolina Rails began to sing steadily (we
had heard them before at intervals) on every side. To my
delight there was also the old familiar outcry of the
[Iva?] birds leaving their roost in the swamp beyond Buch
Island. One Hylar pickeringii piping vigorously.
  At about 8 p.m. we crossed to the Pine Swamp & found
the other mystery in full blast. Ki-hi-hi,cree, sometimes
ki-hi-hi, creeee came his merry little refrain regularly, every
five or six seconds, from the cat-tails about 50 yds. in. Every time
a train passed he stopped, resuming only after its rumble & roar
had died away in the distance. A Carolina Rail called ka-e
near him & the thung of green frogs snapped out all over
the swamp. Three times we heard a Virginia Rail in the maple
woods about this pond. My guess on the strange bird is still
Black Rail. Faxon said he felt sure the bird as a "pretty little
fellow". We left him singing at 9 p.m. & I took the train
with Torrey for Porter's a few minutes later. A Carolina singing at Hills Crossing.