268
Concord, Mass.
1898
October 7
(No 2)
  While going through the small piece
of pine and oak woods on the West Bedford
shore opposite the cabin this forenoon
I heard a Partridge drum a dozen times
or more. Gilbert and McGrath were with
me and we were talking & trampling noisily 
through the brush but we went entirely
around the bird within 30 yards or less 
without silencing him. Finally I went
directly to the spot whence the sound came 
& flushed him. His drumming place was
unlike any I have ever seen before on 
perfectly level ground but on the very edge
of an old sand bank overgrown with bushes.
The ground on the edge of the bank over
a space about a foot square was worn
smooth & hard but there was no excrement
or feathers. Probably this is not a station
that has been much used.
[margin]Partridge
drumming 
on hard
ground.[/margin]
  Sailed down to Birch Island in the afternoon.
Saw a Pigeon Hawk over the pines on
Davis's Hill.