Concord, Mass.
1909
May 19
(No 2)
  About 5 P.M I heard the Snipe drumming again.
At this time the air was perfectly clear the sky filled 
with fleecy clouds through which the sun shone at
intervals. I started up river in a canoe at once. On 
reaching Brown Dam Lagoon I ran the canoe into the
grass for the Snipe seemed to be not far off. For many
minutes I looked for him in vain although twice he
came nearly over me. The bright light in the sky
dazzled my eyes & the Swallows & Swifts bothered me.
Moreover I was looking, as it proved, too low down for
when at length I caught sight of the Snipe he was
flying at a great height, forty five hundred feet, I 
thought, above the meadow & only just beneath the
lower strata of clouds. For at least fifteen minutes I
kept my glass steadily on him. During this time
he flew, for the most part, in great circles perhaps
Wilson's Snipe drumming in broad daylight