1891
May 21
(no 5)
Afternoon in Fresh pond Swamps.
Mass.
Cambridge. - Red-wings appear to be much scarcer
than usual in the swamps this season. i do not 
think we saw a dozen males in all and certainly 
much less than that number of females. I
fear that the merciless Brown has been shooting
them again. We found five or six of their nests,
however, two with four eggs each and two with
one egg each, the others empty. Most of those
which I saw were placed in cat-tails, suspended
between the upright stalks.
  The Fresh Pond swamps are very foul this year
owing probably to the low stage of water. But
despite their foulness, despite the sad inroads
made by the brickyards and the constantly
increasing traffic over the two railroads which
pierce this innermost recesses they possess for
me a charm which grows rather than wanes
as the year go by. Its secret is largely, of course,
the abundant and interesting bird-life which
has certainly suffered no serious check since
the new order of things began. Indeed it is
doubtful if in the old days, at least as far
back as my memory goes, there was ever a
season when so many birds, whether taken as
species or individuals, bred in these swamps
as in 1890. This year the Rails are much
scarcer and there are apparently no Gallinules
or Least Bitterns but obviously this is due
to some other cause than the presence of the
brickyards ad railroads. Next year I suppose
the Metropolitan Sewer system will drain the entire
region and put an end forever to my paradise
[margin]Present status of the Fresh Pond swamps as compared with former years[/margin]