1905.
May 3
(No 3)
  Noted the spring flight call of the Cowbird as tslue, lee -
dee. It is usually given just as the bird takes flight
but also when it is fairly on wing and occasionally
just before it leaves its perch. I think it is peculiar
to the male. I seldom or never hear it in late summer or
autumn.
  Shortly after sunset as I was standing in front
of the cabin the wind which had been blowing violently
from the S.W. all the afternoon changed suddenly to
E. & the temperature fell rapidly. A few moments 
later. A few moments later great numbers of Swallows
appeared coming from the N.E. at a considerable height
and dropping on set wings under the lee side of the
hill, afterwards drifting off out of sight over the meadows.
I must have seen 300 or 400 in the course of a few
minutes. Their flight was so peculiar that I could not
identify them by sight. They used their wings but little
merely soaring or floating as they drifted before the wind.
Judging by their calls the majority were Barn Swallows
but I also heard the notes of Bank & Tree Swallows.
There were no Swifts among them but I saw four
Swifts flying in company on the hill earlier in
the day.
Remarkable flight of Swallows at evening
  In a ditch in Barrett Meadow saw a male Spotted Tortoise
pursuing a female with amorous intent. He clasped her
once but lost his hold. She then dove to the bottom & buried
herself in the mud. The male sought her persistently but vainly.
Every minute or so he raised his head above the surface for air
gasping with wide open mouth. Yet the female remained submerged
at the bottom during the 15 minutes I kept watch.