1889
Sept. 11
Clear with cool, strong E. wind. Very hazy all day.
  To Sargent's clearing at 10 a.m. hunting there about two 
hours when C.& E.R.S. picked me up & brought me back
on the buck-board. Started only two Woodcock, both on 
on the north side of the road, one in exactly the spot
where Lovejoy shot a bird over Don last year, the
other in the willow thicket near the west end of the
opening. I started the first bird three times, missing
the first two shots both hard ones and killing the
third firing through a mass of foliage. The second
bird flew past me to the right , an awkward shot,
which I made successfully. Don pointed several
times. Once I saw the Woodcock sitting upright in
an opening, its head raised, not in any way squatting.
Both birds ran some distance ahead of the dog as
nearly all Woodcock do here.
[margin]Woodcock 
Shooting 
near 
Lakeside[/margin]
  My first shot started a flock of over twenty Black 
Ducks which were feeding near the head of the cove.
[margin]Black Ducks[/margin]
  After killing the second Woodcock, I shot at a
Blue Jay flying. Going to the place, I sent Don in
to look for it when he started a Lincoln's Finch. 
It flew up into a bush when I recognized it at once.
Before I could get in the auxiliary it descended to
the ground again. Failing to start it I supposed it
had moved on and hunted the woods on every side.
Finally I returned and found it in the very spot
whence it started first. It fell a victim to my new
auxiliary in the 20g., the first shot I have fired
from this weapon. I afterwards shot a Swamp Sparrow
in a thicket of maples on the roadside.
[margin]Lincoln's 
Finch.[/margin]
  The foliage has turned considerably in the last
two days.