344
Concord, Mass.
1897.
Nov.21
(No 2)
  Immediately after breakfast I started on a long
walk. Behind Ball's Hill I found Fox tracks. as 
I was crossing the swamp three Partridges rose
from among the dense blueberry bushes with a great
roar of wings. Their tracks showed that they had
been moving about the swamp together.
[margin] w / Begin [/margin]
  Passing Bensen's house I kept on across the
Mason field and thence down towards the river
when I heard distant shouting in the direction
of the cabin. I accordingly turned back and 
made my way quickly towards Davis's Hill. Just
as I reached its crest I saw Herbert Holden &
Gilbert hurrying towards me through the woods.
To my amazement they were bringing my 20 g. [gauge]
gun and cartridge bag. When they came up Holden
explained excitedly that he had come upon an
enormous bird which he thought must be some kind
of an Eagle at Birch Island. He saw it first flying
through the trees. It alighted on the edge of the
meadow when he walked up to within thirty feet
of it and after looking at it several minutes left
it sitting there & hastened back to the cabin to
tell me about it. As nearly half-an-hour had
elapsed since he had left it we all feared that
it would be gone but walking rapidly we soon
reached the island and Holden almost immediately
discovered the bird sitting on a pile of wood
under the birches near the landing. I failed to
see it at first owing, I think, to the fact
that I was not looking for anything nearly so large.
As it sat facing us it looked literally as big