Love notes and breeding
MASS. (Middlesex Co.) [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
1857 May 7 - 1875
May 7 [May 7, 1875] (one of them composed entirely of
Bluebirds feathers) lay under the
tree. Near Block is. [Block island] heard a number
of rails calling and coming down
through the brickyard swamp after
sunset found the bushes fairly
swarming with both species. In
one little patch of meadow interspersed
with thickets there must have been
dozens of them and I frequently
heard four or five of either species
calling at once. A succession of
peculiar squealing notes given in a 
low tone, induced me, in this
place, to wade cautiously to the
spot, although I more than half
expected that the author would turn
out an amourously disposed musk
rat as I have heard them with utter very
similar noses [noises] under those circumstances
but peering around a thick bush I
was much delighted to see a pair of
Porzana Carolina within a few yards
of me going through all the ceremonies 
of courtship. The female skulked coyly
through the grass followed slowly by
the male, both birds twisting and doubling
about in the little patch of meadow
which was only a few yards square.
Every now and then the retreating
bird would stop until the other came
up when he would spread his tail
to the very utmost extent and
elevating it nearly to the perpendicular,
strut around her with all the