1891
May 29
(No 2)
Mass.
Cambridge. - Virginia Rails eggs which we found
and left unmolested. Had we taken these the
grand total for about three hours work would
have been sixty eggs.
  The swamps were exceptionally beautiful this
afternoon. The more prominent objects in the
landscape were soften by the mist which
gave a wonderful effect of distance - looking
across the large meadow north of Glacialis a
stranger to the place would have said that it
was more than a mile in width. Swifts in
unusual numbers were skimming over the meadows
and ponds and I saw two Barn Swallows among
them besides a number of Bank Swallows. There
was rare singing, especially from the Yellow Warblers,
Song Sparrows, Maryland Yellow-throats and 
Cat Birds. It was the twilight chorus prolonged
through the entire afternoon. Robins sang freely,
too, but the Swamp Sparrows were mostly dumb.
Wilson's Thrushes were numerous in all the
thickets but I did not hear one sing until
it was nearly dark when suddenly their flute-
like voices thrilled the air from every side.
The Marsh Wrens were very numerous and noisy
in the cat-tails north of the Glacialis during 
the entire afternoon. I heard one or two
Black-billed Cuckoos but no Yellow-bills.
The general silence of the Rails was most
remarkable in view of the unusually favorable
conditions. I heard only one Carolina sing and
not a single one make [deleted]any other[/deleted] the whining.