MASS. (Middlesex Co.) [Middlesex County, Massachusetts] Nyctale acadica
Rana pipiens
1875.
Dec. 16 [December 16, 1875] Cloudy and warm. Light dust of snow
fell last evening, but disappeared to day.
Spent the forenoon mounting the [female]
quail shot on the 14th. The [male] I mounted
yesterday. At 3 P.M. started up into the
swamps with Stone taking a 16 gauge
gun belonging to Hudson of Concord and
loaned me by Jim [James C. Melvin] for trial. Crossing
Alewife brook I was much pleased
at finding a number of frogs (Rana pipiens)
sitting on its muddy edge with everything
but their heads immersed. Some of them
were of quite large size and all seemed
active as in summer. The brook is
kept open all winter by the warm
sewerage matter discharged into it,
and the good condition of the Nyctardea
shot here Dec. 2nd is no longer a mystery.
Keeping on we entered the pine swamp at
about sunset. I had seen a Collurio fly
down into the maple thicket W. [west] of Pout pond
and was hunting for him when I came
suddenly upon a Nyctale acadica: It was sitting
on a horizontal limb on the path not 5 ft [delete]high[/delete]
above the ground and when I first noticed it
had its eyes fixed upon me. It sat perfectly
erect with its feathers drawn in tightly and
looked very small indeed, not one third the 
size of Scops in fact. (vide obs. Nov. 1874) Backing 
off a little way I shot a charge of dust at it when
to my great disgust it started off through the trees
with wonderful speed & celerity, but shooting a
snap shot with the other barrel I was pleased
see it fell with a broken wing. Picking it up
it snapped its bill loudly and striking at my
hand with its delicate little talons drove them through
[margin]the skin causing a sensation like the prick of a needle. Upon dissection this bird proved a [female]. The stomach contained two nearly whole shrews of small size, I think they were Sorex palustris. Found a blackbird's (Ag. phoeniceus [Agelaius phoeniceus]) nest of last springs hung from the horizontal branch of an oak, some 6 ft. up, and over a ditch.