Concord, Mass.
1912.
May 17
(No 2)
[May 17, 1912]

Prothonotary Warbler at Ball's Hill

  It is my custom when sleeping in the cabin to open a 
little window by the side of my bed when I first awake to 
enjoy the early morning singing without the trouble of rising at 
an inconvenient hour. When I did so at 5.30 this morning my 
ears were at once greeted by an unfamiliar song very loud and 
incisive and evidently coming from near at hand. Scarce more 
than half awake I listened to it for ten minutes or more 
without getting any clue as to the identity of its author. It 
seemed most like the song of a Swamp Sparrow but was 
louder and the notes were freer and less run together. At 
length I arose, dressed hurriedly and then looked out towards 
the river through the frosty opened door of the cabin. Almost 
at once a flush of bright yellow caught my eye. The next instance 
a [male] Prothonotary Warbler hopped out on a leafless branch over 
the path directly in front of the cabin and sang and sang in full
view within ten yards of me. Shortly after this he flew