1891
May 17
(no 5)
Afternoon on Rock Meadow
Mass.
Belmont. - sight at him here for he stood on
something that raised him quite above the grass
and we could see him nearly down to the middle joints
of the legs. Against the background of woods
the sound of his voice was very different from
what it had been in the open meadow. In fact
he had changed to a "stake drive" and some
of the whacks he gave were positively startling.
Soon after we had reached our stand on the
edge of the bushes [deleted]a[/deleted] Black Ducks began quacking
in the grass within 30 yds. of us. There proved to
be two of these birds, one pair & doubtless the same
[deleted][?][/deleted] seen earlier in the day. They quacked almost
incessantly for fifteen minutes or more, their voices
with that of the Bittern, joined to the tinkling
notes of immeasurable Hylas and the snoring of 
Leopard Frogs, making up a most interesting if
at times somewhat deafening medley of sound.
[margin]Black Ducks quacking[/margin]
The drake's voice was much hoarser than the ducks.
Both birds finally rose together and flew off with
a perfect outburst of quacking which gradually died
away in the distance.  After a little while we returned
and dropped into the main channel of the brook
with a loud splash.
  The Bittern became silent at just 7.40 and as it
was fast getting dark we started for the road.
As we were leaving the meadow a Wilson's Snipe began
humming. We stopped and listened for several
minutes, then walked slowly towards Brown's. The
Snipe continued humming without intermission
(save the usual short intervals between the sets of notes)
[margin]Wilson's Snipe[/margin]