Continued
1890
(June 28)
Martha's Vineyard, Mass.
  Of birds which might have been expected I saw no Bobolinks, 
Indigo Birds, White eyed, Warbling or Yellow-throated Vireos, Yellow winged 
Sparrows, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Wilsons or Hermit Thrushes, Pine 
or Black-throated Green Warblers.
  The number of Thrashers, Towhees, Robins and Grass Finches amazed 
me. The Towhees were chiefly confined to the oak scrub but the 
Thrashers were simply everywhere, even in the villages. We must have 
seen nearly fifty dusting in the roads alone. None were singing. 
Everyone I talked with knew the "Heth-ens" well. They are seen 
almost daily in the wood roads but we did not have the luck 
to meet with them.
  Heard our Chickadee whistling in the normal manner & two 
birds which I took to be Chickadees but did not see whistling 
both notes on the same key, that of the normal first.
  From Edgartown to Katama we passed over a country different 
from any hitherto met with, perfectly open nearly level but 
slightly rolling plains exactly like the commons of Nantucket. 
Here we saw the first Flickers, Yellow winged and Savanna Sparrows 
the last two numerous. Grass Finches simply swarmed here & 
far outnumbered the other two Sparrows. Savanna Sparrows were 
also singing about some small salt ponds & meadows 
but I could find no Sharp-tails. Meadow Larks were 
common & Barn Sparrows quickly collected and followed our 
buggy as they do on Nantucket, mopping up the moths 
started by our horse. Upland Plover are said to breed 
here but we saw none. On a mud flat in one of the 
ponds stood a solitary Greater Yellow-leg.
  Reaching the shore I went out on the sand creek 
that separates the harbour from the ocean. A good 
many Least terns (probably 6 pairs) and very many 
Piping Plover (probably 10 pairs) were evidently breeding