1893
May 25
(No 2)
E[ast] Lexington, Mass.
  From 9 to 10 A.M. the Greebes in the Reservoir pond
were very noisy giving the Cuckoo notes at frequent
intervals. After 10 o'clock I did not hear them once.
The number of notes in the Cuckoo call varied to-day
from 5 to 21. When the number exceeded ten the first
six or seven were usually given so rapidly that it
was difficult to count them. After the seventh the intervals
increased and the last notes were given very slowly
and sometimes in a drawling tone. The first six or seven syllables
may be rendered by the word cuck or kuk. After the
seventh they are changed to keow, hollow &[and] guttural in tone.
I heard the other call only twice. It may be best described
as a quavering bray or whinney, all on the same key. It 
may be imitated by sending the breath in short, rapid puffs
through the nose. 
  I saw three Greebes, one diving near button bushes; the other
two rose quite clear of [delete]from[/delete] the water and flew half across the pond
carrying their necks stretched out & their legs dangling &
finally dropping abruptly into some flooded bushes. 
[margin]Pied-billed Greebes[/margin]
  Two Least Bitterns cooed at infrequent intervals between
9 & 10 A.M. in cat tail flags. I could just catch
the sound at a distance of about 200 yds the wind blowing
towards me.
[margin]Least
Bitterns[/margin]