CONCORD. 
1889 
June 21 
The Bird. 
Mystery 
I To Ooncord with Faxon by 4 P.M. train. Took my 
boat at the Manse and pulled down river to about the middle 
of the Great Neadows. A few Swallows and one Martin. A 
Grosbeak singing near" the tent' 1 . Bobolinks singing rather 
freely over the meadow. Quail whistling in two places. A Carolina 
Rail (Porzana Carolina) near the middle of the meadow. No 
Marsh Wrens or Bitterns. As we were floating in midstream, 
just below the wooded reach, four Wood Ducks passed, flying 
up river. They came in from the Great Meadow and dipping 
down over the trees followed the course of the river up 
past "the tent" and out of sight. They flew in pairs, but 
I could not make out their colors. 
At about 6.30 P.M. we started up river and rowed 
without stopping past the town to above the Fitchburg 
bridges In the meadows across the river from the French 
farm Faxon heard the mysterious kik-kik-kik-cree late in 
the afternoon of June 19th and the chief object of our 
visit tonight was to make sure that the bird is really 
settled there and to locate him as accurately as possible 
before making an attempt on his life with gun and dog, 
to-morrow. 
For nearly an hour, however, we paddled and rowed 
or floated near the spot without getting the now familiar 
cry although we imagined that we heard it several times in 
imagination 
various directions, but always it turned out to be either / 
