1902.
June 1
(No. 2)
  As we approached the canoe landing at Ball's Hill
yesterday afternoon we heard, borne on the fresh east
wind from Holden's meadow, a peculiar loud, harsh cry wholly new to me.
Rowing down river a short distance we located the sound
in an extensive bed of tall, flooded grass (chiefly "blue joint")
on the bank of the river near the cluster of willows and
white maples above Pad island. It ceased when we
got near the spot but was resumed soon after we 
left it. At 10.15 P.M. I heard precisely the same
cry issuing from the meadows opposite Ball's Hill
near the thicket of Button bushes which Least Bitterns
sometimes frequent. I listened to it for nearly half
an hour and could hear it coming at short intervals
from the same direction up to the time I went
to sleep (about 11.15 P.M.)
Another "ornithological mystery."
  At 7 A.M. this morning I went to Holden's meadow
and heard the same sound coming from the same
spot where it was heard yesterday P.M. and
between 5.30 and 6 o'clock this afternoon the creature
was again calling almost continually but when I
visited the meadow at 6.30 P.M. equipped with
rubber boots it had become silent. I waded all over
the place but neither saw nor heard anything unusual.
The water proved to be from six to ten inches deep
among the tall grass but there were a few mounds 
or tussocks which rose above it.
  I noted the cry carefully on the spot both last
night and this morning. On the former occasion
(ie when heard across the river after 10 P.M.) it was
repeated every two to four seconds as long as I was
listening but this morning & afternoon it would be given
2