58
Concord, Mass.
1898.
April 13
  Early morning cloudy; remainder of day brilliantly
clear with very strong (but not chill) E. wind.
  Spent the entire day transplanting trees covering
a good deal of ground going to & fro from place
to place. Very few birds seen or heard; indeed
the country appeared to be lifeless & deserted &
even in the early morning I heard almost
no singing. The three Squirrels came to the
cabin as usual, the Red at daybreak, the pair
of Grays half-an-hour later. I also saw
a Chipmunk (the first this spring) near the
E. end of Ball's Hill. 
  In the afternoon a flock of 14 Cedar Birds
passed over Davis' Hill flying due North
and perhaps migrating.
  At evening the Bittern was pumping and
a Snipe drumming. I also heard a singular
succession of croaking notes (or a rolling croak)
many times repeated & coming from the direction of
the button bushes opposite Ball's Hill. This 
call was unlike anything that I have ever
heard before. It could hardly have been
made by a Frog although it faintly
resembled the croaking of the Leopard Frog
but it was much louder & more emphatic.
I am quite sure that it was uttered by 
some water bird[.]