1891
May 12
(No 9)
Mass.
West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard. - drumming station
of a Partridge for there was a worn discolored spot
with a heap of what seemed to [be] Partridge dung.
At length after a long searched*[search] Mrs Adam's dog
"Shep" who was with us flushed a large, red
cock Partridge near Faxon who had an excellent
sight of the bird as it rose on the side of a hill
beneath where he stood. 
  There were a few small birds seen, a D. virens,
a Mniotilta, & an Oven-bird singing, and a pair 
of Chickadees both of which I shot. The male like
most of the birds which we have heard on the
island regularly whistled both notes of his song
on the same key. He and his mate look large &
long-tailed with unusually white cheeks.
  On a hillside in these woods Faxon came on a
large and very ugly-looking snake which was
new to us both. It was checkered with black bordered
by some red on a grayish ground. The head had
a broad straight line of black on each side. it 
made no attempt to escape but faced us and
struck at the dog viciously. The shape of the
head, however, indicated that it belonged to
some harmless species.
  On our return to town we followed the upper
slopes of the ridges and disregarding the wood
paths forced our way through the oak woods
in a nearly straight line, hoping to solve
[delete][?][/delete] the problem as to whether the Heath Hen
is found in these woods or not. We failed to
find it or any signs of its presence but in   