Song of the woodcock
Turdus pallasii
Middlesex Co., Mass. [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
1875.
April 17 [April 17, 1875] of places are still hard underneath
and no green thing has started anywhere
except in sunny spots & on the
upland. Near the Pine swamp found
some owl pellets under an apple tree
and climbing up to a likely looking
hole I found therein the body
of a robin entire - feathers etc - with
the head only eaten off, and that
too done very recently, as the ruptured
muscles on the base of the neck were
quite fresh and bloody. Searching under
other holes and cavities I found other
pellets but could not come across
the birds. The hole containing the robin
is I presume a sort of storehouse
for the male bird. Coming up through
Vassel lane [Vassal Lane] home I saw a flock of 
at least a doz. [dozen] Turdus pallasii among
the willow shrubs. Shot only one bird,
a [male] Quis. versicolor (var. aenius) [Quiscalus versicolor var. aeneus] I forgot
to note under April 15 that in the
afternoon of that day I went
up to Carlisle with Melvin [Jim Melvin] and Purdie [Henry A. Purdie]
to hear the woodcock sing if possible: but
in this expedition we were totally
unsuccessful as not a bird did we
hear. Mr. Robbins our guide & host,
heard them three nights in succession
Apr. 8-9-10th and has noticed none 
since. While at his place we were much
surprised to see a Passer domesticus 
fluttering against the side of his barn. It
was an immature bird though full grown
and how it found its way there is a mystery.