Middlesex Co., Mass. [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
1875.
April 22 [April 22, 1875]
I had heard it and by what it
was produced, - on the Belmont
meadows some five or eight years
back, and by a Wilsons snipe. Creeping
down to the edge of the marsh
and peering through the bushes by
which it was at this point fringed
I was much delighted to espy a 
fine old Gallinago [Gallinago delicata] basking in the 
sun on the top of a large tussock,
and looking a little more closely I
made out several more on adjoining
elevations. Climbing up on a large 
stump and making myself as 
comfortable as possible, I watched
them for about an hour and-a-half
and was even then loathe to leave so 
interesting were their [delete]habits[/delete] motions. 
Not suspecting my presence in the least
though within 30 yds [yards] of me they 
pursued the wonted avocations with 
perfect freedom from fear. One large
fellow sitting on the top of a little mound 
full in the warm beams of the morning 
sun, dozed for minutes at a time without
moving and frequently supported on 
one leg only the other drawn up among
his feathers. Another was cleansing his
plumage with his bill handling that 
long member most deftly and 
sifting through, it as it were, the feathers
of his wide spread tail. Two or three
of the company (and I soon made
out seven individuals within a 
radius of a few yards) were always