1890
March 27
Suwanee River, Florida.
Fair with alternative cloud and sunshine. Very warm.
  Off with Chapman for the entire day taking the
main channel of the Suwanee and going down 
to the outlet. The distance is about five miles,
the last two miles being through open marshes
which stretch as far as the eye can reach.
On the way down we heard the usual birds
in the woods along the river. There were few
water birds, some Anhingas, two Dusky Ducks
(doubtless fulvigula), five or six cormorants, 
and several Great Blue and Green Herons.
Ospreys were numerous mostly in pairs at or
near their nests which were usually in large
  On reaching the marshes we began to hear
and see Boat-tailed Grackles but there were
not many of them. There were absolutely no
Gulls or Terns. Two Brown Pelicans passed over
the Gulf. A [male] Scaup Duck was swimming in
the river. Saw a Louisiana Heron alight in 
the grass on an island at the mouth of
the river and paddling to the spot flushed
and shot it. Finding this island rather
high & dry land we landed and lunched.
On the next island above we heard Clapper 
Rails calling at frequent intervals so we
crossed the channel and fired the grass.
After several failures we finally got a
good blaze started & then lay off in
the river in our canoes to see what
would come out. Chapman got a shot
at a Rail that appeared on the edge
cypresses along the banks of the river.