1890
March 30
Suwanee River, Florida  
Clear and cool with S.E. to S.W. wind.
  At 10.30 a.m. we all started together for
the mouth of the West Pass of he Suwanee. The
tide was running out strongly and we sped
swiftly and easily down stream stopping
occasionally to rest under the shade of the
overhanging trees. During one such halt a number
of birds collected about us, a pair of cardinals &
Tufted Tits two Parula Warblers a Solitary and
Red-eyed Vireo and a Great crested Flycatcher.
  Saw an Osprey hovering about its nest with
the peculiar butterfly flight whistling shrilly
very much like a Duck Hawk. The next
moment it dropped with closed wings and
through the glass I could see it copulating
with its mate which was sitting on the nest.
Lower down we saw another pair at their
nest. They are probably laying now.
  We saw only one Duck on the way, a [female symbol?]
Shoveller. One reaching the mouth of the river
heard Widgeons claling and found three of
these Ducks swimming near the last island.
Landed on the island that we burnt partially
on the 27th. Started three Snipe, doubtless the
same seen on that day. Chapman shot one of
them & I missed another. I also shot a
[female symbol?] Red-wing and upon going to pick her up
flushed a very black Rallus scottii and
killed it.
  We then separated and fired the island
at three different points. Only one of 
these fires proved a success but that fairly