Nest of S. Ruticilla [Setophaga ruticilla] Young of
Rallus virginianus
1875. Middlesex Co., Mass. [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
June 10 [June 10, 1875] uttering continually a single angry
squeal that reminded me of the cry of
young pig when startled. I could not 
find any of the chicks but upon moving
off a little distance I soon heard their
feeble lisping as they called to one another
and their parents: this same lisp is 
indistinguishable from that of the young P.
Carolina [Porzana carolina] as heard last season. In the 
maple swamp I found nest of Seth.
ruticilla [Setophaga ruticilla] 3 fresh eggs and one of E. minimus [Empidonax minimus]
with 4 ditto [fresh eggs]. The former was in rather 
an exceptional situation in the fork
of a low thick bush about 5 ft. [feet] above the 
ground. This morning while walking
up Sparks St. I heard a most deafening 
racket in Dr. Wyman's pond and going
in found about 20 spade footed toads
floating about on the surface. Many of 
them were paired and copulating while
the single males employed their time
in bellowing like so many "bulls of
Bashen" floating on the surface and
at each cry distending the loose skin
of the throat like the Bufo Am. [Bufo americanus] under
similar circumstances. Procuring a net
at the house I caught three pairs
which I put in a tank of water in
my room. They remained attached to
each other all that day and the following
night when they separated and I 
found that the [females] had deposited large
quantities of spawn, differing in 
appearance not at all from that 
the toads and frogs at large. The [females] were