1893
June 9
Saybrook, Connecticut.
  Early morning clear; remainder of day cloudy with
S.E. wind and light rain in the afternoon followed by a
superb rainbow at sunset and heavy rain afterwards
later into the night.
[margin]Oyster River[/margin]
  In company with Mr. Clark we visited the salt marshes
to-day, rowing down with the ebb tide in the morning
and coming up with the flood at evening, our pathway
being Oyster River a small tidal creek which empties directly
into the Sound west of the mouth of the Connecticut. Along
its banks, as well as those of all the numerous connecting
creeks and ditches, grew beds of the beautiful Polentilla anserina
now in full bloom spangling the meadow with its large
golden flowers.
  On the way down we saw two Night Hawks, evidently
a pair, flying about over a corn field. The male would
mount above the female and then dive down over or
past her and "boom". We distinctly saw him turn his
wings so as to bend the quills down & forward which 
in the act of producing the sound. The female uttered
frequently, in fact almost continuously at times, a
low kan very like that of the Green Heron but feebler
and less hollow. This was while the pair were flying
about. Neither Faxon nor I had ever heard this sound
before but Clark is familiar with it. Finally both birds
alighted side by side on the salt marsh, then took
another flight, then alighted again in a different
place. Their aerial evolutions were exceedingly graceful
and beautiful. Clark says they often lay their eggs
in corn fields here, usually on a flat rock.
[margin]Night Hawks[/margin]