Chatham Mass. [Chatham Massachusetts]
1876. Symphemia semipalmata - Zenaidura Carolinensis
Monday
May 15 [May 15, 1876] Cloudy with E. [east] wind. Left Boston by the 8 A.M.
train for Chatham where I arrived at 2 P.M.
After changing my things went out on the
marsh with Mr. F.B. Brown of Boston whom
I found stopping at Lon's. We shot about
twenty peeps most of them T. minutilla [Tringa minutilla]
Saw Aeg. semipalmatus [Aegialitis semipalmatus] in numbers, one
flock of Totanus melanoleuca and a
single Zenaidura Carolinensis. Mr. F.W. Emerson
a young man from Newton, Mass. [Newton, Massachusetts] also
stopping at the house brought in a fine
[female] Symphemia semipalmata. The gunners
here tell me that this bird used to breed
abundantly on Monomoy island.
  Tuesday
May 16 [May 16, 1876] Clear but with cold S.E. [southeast] wind. Started off immediately
after breakfast rowing down to Hardings beach
where we hired a sail boat and started off
for water fowl. Sailed down to the S. [south] end
of Monomoy is [Monomoy island] without seeing anything
remarkable excepting a few scattering flocks
of coot. Rounding the point we passed 
a sand bar covered with Larus agentatus [Larus argentatus]
and among them about 20 Sterna frenata.
Keeping outside we found an immense
bed of coots lying off the light house close
in to the beach and chasing them about
for some time we shot three, two O. Am. [Oidemia americana]
& one O. perspicillata [Oidemia perspicillata]. There must have
been thousands collected here. They were
strung along the shore just outside the
surf for over half a mile, and flocks
were continually coming and going.
When they rose which they did